I’ve always loved observing animals as they show individual personalities. Most collective nouns have fallen into disuse. Words like chattering, gaggle, and murder, describe something more in the realm of general feeling. They describe something one can’t put their finger on, but is real none the less. A culture living closer to the natural world has more use for this vocabulary. My focus is to depict the quality collective nouns describe. The work in this show represents a study of the fleeting gestural perambulations of creatures who thrive in large numbers. I am inspired by the drunken flight of fruit flies, the graceful arching of starlings, and the cheerless glide of the crow.

Professor and Dept Head of the Film/Animation/video Department at the Rhode Island School of Design. Dennis is an early adopter of electronic imaging. Beginning in 1972 with early forms of video signal processing he has focused his artistic research on instances of group activity. These instances range from human celebration to animal gatherings. Dennis was a co-founder of Electron Movers.

[Diehl Gallery]