Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really good.

My name's Ms. Afzal, and I will be your art teacher for today.

I think our lesson is gonna be quite interesting.

It's called The Principles of Art: Scale.

So we're gonna be exploring scale, what is scale, how does it show up in art.

And we'll be of course creating some art of our own as well where we'll be exploring scale.

It comes from the unit of work The Principles of Art.

So if you are ready, I hope you have some enthusiasm, some focus, and at some point you'll need some art materials.

So with all that set, let's begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can understand what scale is and how it can affect an artwork.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

Scale, photomontage, audience, and diorama.

Scale means how big or small something is in relation to the things around it and itself.

Photomontage, an artwork made by combining different photographs into a single composition.

Audience, the viewers who engage with a piece of artwork.

And diorama is a three-dimensional miniature model or scene.

These are our keywords, scale, photomontage, audience, and diorama.

Our lesson is called the Principles of Art: Scale, and it has three elements to it.

First of all, identify how artists use scale.

Next, experiment with scale.

And finally, explore the effect of scale on your audience.

Let's begin with identifying how artists use scale.

Scale relates to how big or small something is.

We have these two circles on the screen, and we can consider the scale of one object in relation to the other things around it.

What do you notice about the scale of the people, places, and things in these two collages? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Perhaps you noticed something about the scale being perhaps a little more lifelike on the left and perhaps more of a distorted, out of proportion scale on the right.

In art we often use the phrase to scale.

Is this pencil to scale in relation to the sketchbook? Pause the video and share with someone.

The pencil is too big, so this isn't to scale.

Which object is not to scale in this composition? Pause the video and share with someone.

The objects are all to scale apart from the apple, which is way too big compared to the rest of the fruit.

Thanks for sharing your answers.

Artists also use the term scaling up and scaling down.

When we scale up, we make something bigger but keep the proportions the same.

So here we can see this triangle has been scaled up.

It's bigger, but the proportions are still the same.

Check for understanding.

Which cube has been scaled up in proportion? Pause the video and share with someone.

Well done if you selected the green cube.

The green cube has been scaled up.

It is bigger but still in proportion.

The pink box is bigger but is no longer in proportion.

It's not a cube anymore.

It's taller but thinner.

Yayoi Kusama is an artist that uses scale in both her sculptural work and her installations.

Her installation called "Infinity Mirror Rooms," highly recommend you go and see one if you have the chance, aim to transport the audience into Kusama's unique vision of endless reflections.

Using mirrored walls and reflected lights, she's able to be playful with the scale of the gallery space.

As the name suggests, "Infinity Mirror Rooms," the scale is such that it seems endless.

She says, "The world I see is endless space." Sometimes artists alter the scale to engage and excite their audience.

Artists can be playful using scale by making work that is very big, is very small, feels endless, creates depth.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Have you encountered an artwork that has been playful with scale, making something either very big, small, feel endless, or create depth? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I've definitely enjoyed the experience of being in Yayoi Kusama's "Infinity Mirror Rooms" and the endless of what's all around.

Altering scale can make us stop, look, and question what we are seeing in different ways.

In the "Eternal Eye," 1950, Greta Stern explored scale through photography and montage, creating a strange, playful combination.

In the Sistine Chapel, the artist Michelangelo painted huge frescoes on the whole ceiling depicting scenes from the Bible.

In their Miniature series, artists the Singh Twins have created tiny paintings that show people, places, and events like a story you can see on a wall.

Anish Kapoor often employs large-scale structures in his work to evoke a sense of awe and challenge the viewer's perception of space.

So many artists working with scale in really interesting and different ways.

It's time for your first task.

I would like you to research an artist and explain how have they used scale.

Choose an artwork and research where it is exhibited and what size it is.

Or consider artwork you've seen yourself in your local area or further afield.

What effect might the scale have on the audience looking at it? Pause the video while you have a go at researching an artist who uses scale and explaining how they've used this.

I'll see you when you're finished.

All right, it's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task, researching an artist and explaining how they've used scale? You might have said something like this.

This painting is very big.

It means the audience can see lots of small details.

Or perhaps, I think the sculpture would look very striking and dramatic because it's so much bigger than in real life.

As this artwork is small, the audience would have to look very closely.

This artwork takes up the whole space.

I'd have to look at it in sections or stand well back.

Really interesting reflections.

And now we're on to our next learning cycle, experimenting with scale.

Anish Kapoor places his large-scale sculptures into the public environment of parks, cities, or palaces.

"Marsyas" is 150-meter-long, 10 story high sculpture.

The work was activated by being in a vast space, called the Turbine Hall, in the Tate gallery.

It made use of its huge scale to fill the room.

He has said, "Every idea has its scale.

'Marsyas' wouldn't be what it is if it were a third of the scale.

The pyramids are the size they are because they are.

Scale is a tool, a tool of sculpture." Check for understanding.

True or false.

Anish Kapoor has said, "Scale is a tool of sculpture." Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Anish Kapoor did say scale is a tool of sculpture.

His sculptures are large-scale.

Photomontage describes an artwork made by combining different photographs into a single composition.

And we can see an example of some photomontage there.

This technique allows artists to experiment with scale by combining different elements.

Artists like Greta Stern and Linder have used photomontage to create juxtaposition by placing unusual images side by side.

Pause the video and share with someone what are some of the unusual juxtapositions in this example of photomontage on the screen.

Thanks for sharing your observations.

Check for understanding.

Which statements describe photomontage? Using textured materials to make a single composition.

Combining different photographs into a single composition.

It allows artists to experiment with scale.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected statements b and c.

When we combine photos into a single composition, it's called a photomontage.

It's a great opportunity for an artist to experiment with exaggerated scale.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to use magazine images to experiment with scale.

Cut out some large backgrounds and some small-scale pieces and arrange them to create more realistic scale.

And then rearrange them to play with scale.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task.

And I hope you have fun with it.

So how did you get on with your task using magazine images to experiment with scale? Here's Sofia.

"I use scale to show that some elements like trees were in the background as they were smaller than those in the foreground, like grass." And Lucas.

"I used scale to make my work look strange because it's not in proportion." Yeah, that's quite fun to do.

Next part of your task, discuss what effect having elements not to scale has on the composition.

So pause here while you take a good look at this composition and share with someone nearby.

Good to be back with you.

So what did you notice about the effect of having elements not to scale on this composition? You may have said something like this.

Having elements not to scale makes the composition strange.

It looks less realistic and makes me wonder why the artist chose to put these images together.

Yup, it's curious.

Thanks for sharing.

And now onto our third learning cycle, explore the effect of scale on your audience.

Artists sometimes explore scale because they want to have an effect on their audience.

For example, a big sculpture might make you feel small in comparison.

It could look heavy or feel like it is looming over you.

Large artwork can evoke strong feelings in the audience.

For example, a large scale installation of small components might make you think about the connections between the pieces.

You might be intrigued by the small differences.

You might feel a sense of wonder.

Check for understanding.

True or false.

An artist can use scale to evoke certain feelings in their audience.

Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Scale is one of the principles of art used by artists to create strong feelings for the person looking at the artwork.

Thanks for sharing your answers.

Paul McCarthy's artwork "Blockhead" is an example of a giant inflatable sculpture.

The enormous scale of the figure is designed to physically overpower the viewer.

He described the inflatable as an abstract that rises up and over your head.

The artist has likened this to standing at the bottom of a cliff.

I wonder if you've ever had an experience like that, where you're stood beneath something really high.

It could be something from nature, like a cliff or a really really tall building and having that sense of immensity, something so huge looming over you.

Pause the video and share with someone anytime you've had that feeling.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

In the installation "Out of Frame," artist Abdulrazaq Awofeso displayed small figures made from discarded wooden pallets.

He used scale to make the audience think about human migration and the materials goods are transported with.

You can imagine a scale when you look down at ants working busily and travelling back and forth, transporting things, moving, working.

How might these different examples make you feel if you were looking at them? So first of all, a large, shiny, metal sculpture in a field.

And then next, a room filled with small, clay figures.

Pause the video and share your responses.

Thanks for sharing your responses.

Let's hear from Izzy and Jacob.

"A big metal sculpture might make you feel small.

It could look heavy or scary." Yeah, I get that, Izzy.

And Jacob.

"If I saw a large artwork made of small pieces, I would wonder what made the artist choose those bits.

I would also be impressed by the amount of pieces." Great responses.

Alisa is looking at an artwork and feeling small.

Which example is she looking at? A, a miniature painting of a landscape, b, an installation made of lots of small pieces, or c, a giant sculpture made of heavy metal? Pause the video and decide.

Well done if you selected c.

Indeed, a giant metal sculpture is making her feel small in comparison due to the scale.

A diorama is a small model or display that shows the scene in three dimensions.

It's like creating a mini world inside a box.

And we can see an example of a diorama there on the screen.

Artists often use dioramas to tell a story or show what something looks like.

The scale of a diorama is very small compared to real life.

Izzy and Lucas are discussing the idea to take their own photos for the diorama.

"I want my work to be meaningful to me, and using my own photos as primary sources means I'll have more creative control." Makes a lot of sense.

Izzy.

"I'll be able to use my surroundings as the setting for my work, so it'll be based on my local area.

This will help it feel authentic." Love those.

How could you photograph to explore scale? Pause the video and share your ideas.

It's time for your next task.

I would like you to create a diorama using your photomontage pieces.

So first of all, cut and fold your paper to create a screen.

Arrange and glue on the background.

And then use folded flaps to secure the new images.

So you'll have the sides of your diorama, and then you'll also have a flat surface underneath which you could secure your new images onto.

And then you could also add an image in the foreground.

It could be at the base of your diorama.

And also, as you can see from that hand coming in at the side, you could add images in higher up as well.

So pause here while you create your diorama using your photomontage pieces.

Enjoy this part of your task.

All right, great to be back with you.

How did you get on with creating your diorama using your photomontage pieces? There are many ways your diorama might look.

This is just one example.

So perhaps you included something on the background, in the foreground, used flaps to have some of your images standing up, maybe have some poking in from the side.

And next, I would like you to imagine that you were in your diorama.

How might you feel if you were standing in your diorama? Which large scale elements would you notice first? And how would they make you feel? Really think about what effect the scale would have on you.

So pause the video while you have a go at this part of your task, imagining that you are in your own diorama.

Great to be back with you.

How did this imaginative element of your task go, imagining that you are inside your own diorama? You might have said something like this.

So here's Laura posing the question.

"What would you notice standing inside your diorama?" And Alex replies, "How big everything was.

Also how out of proportion the different elements were compared to real life.

How would you feel?" "I might feel like it was unexpected and it might make me feel worried or scared because of its size compared to everything else." True.

So yeah, take care of yourself depending on how you're feeling after this experimentation of pretending we were imagining ourselves inside the diorama.

I hope you enjoyed this task, creating your dioramas and imagining yourself inside.

In our lesson Principles of Art: Scale, we've covered the following.

Scale is the size relative to itself and its surroundings.

When we scale up or down, we keep the proportions the same.

A diorama is an example of a small-scale artwork.

Large works of art can be made from small components.

Adjusting the scale of an artwork can affect how the audience experiences the work.

Thank you, everyone, for engaging with this lesson.

It was great to explore what is scale, what does it mean, scaling up, scaling down, proportions.

And then I loved how you created your own dioramas from your photomontage pieces and even explored what was it like to imagine yourself inside the diorama.

Well done for all of this.

You've worked very hard this lesson.

And I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

In the meantime, stay creative.