Animal Collective Nouns

Overview

There's something very charming about the way us English-speakers group animals together. Sometimes we're all caught up in their appearance: a blush of flamingos, a prickle of porcupines, a whiteness of swans. Or we're taken by the way they move: a fall of lambs, a glide of flying fish, a walk of snails. Other times, it's simple alliteration: a leap of leopards, a bike of bees, a rhumba of rattlesnakes. Or pure creativity: a mess of iguanas, a storytelling of ravens, an aurora of polar bears.

Whatever the back story, these collective nouns captivate, so much so that Noun Collective is staging their second exhibition on this very topic. Noun Collective invited artists to respond to their most favourite collective noun, make an artwork and be part of the upcoming palaver of paintings at Gaffa Gallery.

Image: Cat Macinnes, A Parcel of Dears