ZBRUSH| KEYSHOT (OR RENDERER OF YOUR CHOICE)
EXQUISITE CORPSE THE ULTIMATE GROUP PROJECT
Recreating the infamous art game in ZBrush: Scott Denton’s collaborative sculpt project
ARTIST
Scott Denton
Principal modeller at Moving Pieces Interactive
ARTIST
Adam Dewhirst
Head of Creatures at UNIT TV and Film
ARTIST
Ryan Kittleson
Freelance sculptor
ARTIST
Joe Grundfast
ZBrush sculptor and CG supervisor at The-Artery NYC
ARTIST
Casey Reuter
Senior modeller at The Mill New York
ARTIST
Omar Hesham
3D character artist working in visual effects, animation, and games
Ever tried creating a mashed-up character, by folding a slip of paper over and passing it around? You may be surprised to know that it’s a 100year-old game called ‘Exquisite Corpse’. New York-based artist Scott Denton has gathered a group of artists to revive this game, and wants to get as many people involved as possible.
About 100 years ago, surrealist artists let loose from stifling professional demands by creating the infamous art game called Exquisite Corpse. In this game, a person would start a work of art and others would finish it by using only a small portion of the original work as reference and then continuing it from that point. The end result was often hilarious, amusing, confusing or terrifying. Without a fixed goal, the artists were free to let creativity and muse take over.
A group of artists, Scott Denton, Ryan Kittleson, Casey Reuter, Joe Grundfast, Omar Hesham and Adam Dewhirst, have revived this game using ZBrush. First, a head is sculpted and the bottom of the neck is passed on to the next artist who sculpts a fantastical torso. Then the bottom edge of the torso is given to the third artist who sculpts some outrageous legs. Finally, a fourth person combines the parts and makes any adjustments or posing if needed, then the artists rotate and the process starts again!
The only part you should be passing to the next artist in line is a small sliver you have split off of your sculpt, and then at the very end the assembler gets all full parts sent to them. The object of the game is surprise. The players should never know what came before them.
A few simple ground rules we found helpful: each artist is limited to three hours. This is to prevent fussing over details or over-thinking it. There should be no planning before the three hours begins. We also try to keep the pose centred and symmetrical - at least, in the section that is passed on to the next artist so that it’s easier for them to jump in and start sculpting. Additional posing can be done after the final assembly. Remember - it’s a game, it’s fast and fun and kind of sloppy, but even the most bizarre individual sculpt can be a part of an amazing creation!