Cadaver Exquisito ((top)) Jun 2026

While the linguistic variant produces nonsensical but syntactically correct poetry, the visual variant yields composite figures. Classic examples from the Surrealist period (e.g., Exquisite Corpse [1930] by Tanguy, Miró, Man Ray, and Morise) depict disjointed humanoids: a mechanical head, a biomorphic torso, and insectile legs. The visual cadaver literalizes the metaphor of the “corpse”—a body assembled from alien parts, defamiliarizing the human form.

The game was invented around 1925 by André Breton , the leader of the Surrealist movement. It was designed to bypass the rational mind and tap into the "unconscious" or collective imagination. Cadaver exquisito

Legend has it that one night, they began playing a parlor game similar to "Consequences" (where players write a phrase, fold the paper, and pass it on). Someone wrote the now-immortal phrase: The game was invented around 1925 by André