Roger Miller's "A Night of Surrealist Games"

Description

Roger (Clark) Miller, of Mission of Burma, and the Alloy Orchestra hosts an evening of Exquisite Corpse games in intimate settings where individuals can learn and play riotous mind bending games that were developed by Andre Breton and his coconspirators during the 1920s and '30s, the heyday of surrealism. The consummate master of ceremonies, Miller will not only explain and lead the games to kick off the event, but he'll also DJ providing a surrealistic soundtrack to the evening.

The name "Exquisite Corpse" is derived from the first word game they played: "The Exquisite Corpse shall drink the new wine." Games will include the basic Exquisite Corpse word game, the basic Exquisite Corpse drawing game (advanced drawing skills are not required), the Dream Game, and other varieties of surrealist word games. Says Miller, “The wonder of these games is the unexpected juxtapositions that occur, creating amazingly synchronistic sequences and unexpected meanings and connections.” 

The games require 3-4 people (up to 6 in some cases), so there will be a number of tables with different games going on simultaneously. After explaining the games, Miller will stroll the tables, making sure the simple but sometimes oddly confusing rules are followed.

Says Miller, "A great virtue of these games is that they are not at all competitive. A person who is an experienced artist may interact with a more naive drawer to produce a brilliant composition. It's all about the collective work."