SCALE
by Bulent Dogan

giant saxophone in front of a bar

Scale is the principle of design that deals with the size relationship of one part to another. As a word, its root comes from Latin scalae, which simple means ladder. Many artists use the correct proportions to depict realistic works, while other artists exaggerate and distort to express moods and experiences. Here in this example, a giant size saxophone is pictured by me. This picture is taken from a bar on the Richmond Avenue. As we can clearly see from the image, a saxophone is made in very large size. Normally every object has a size that we know. When we are deciding on size of something, we use our natural scale: our naked eyes. As in in this example, we don't expect to see this big saxophone in our daily life. But with the scaling feature, this place takes all the attention and serves its purpose.

According to the Alphabet of the Art ,an artist uses large size to make things appear near and of greater  importance, and small size to make things appear far away or less important.

Sometimes the smallest things can make a big differences! Or even a small thing may look like bigger than a big thing in reality. With scaling property an artist can  give different impressions to the viewer.Right here in this picture a ring frames a stop sign.Putting the stop sign inside of a ring I am trying to say,a ring can be as big as a stop sign.

a ring framing the stop sign

Scale refers to the size relationship between an object and a standard reference, such as the human body. Scale of an object can range from minute to monumental, or scale of an object within a design can be correct or exaggerated depending on the intention of the artist.

These cute Russian nesting dolls are pictured in Ten Thousand Villages Store in Rice Village. Here we can see the different aspect of the scale: Grading.  Here in this example decreasing  or increasing sizes of the dolls gives an scaling feeling to the viewer. Without scaling it would be impossible to compare the things around us.

world famous Russian nesting dolls

small  toy cars on an actual car

Different Worlds::The life of the dwarfs and the life of the giants.

Now we're safe. With these "various sizes" of safety pins, you can find the one to make you really secure. As in this example, without comparing the things to each other we would not know about the terms size, big, small...etc.Scaling gives the person a comparison idea.

safety pins in increasing order

Online Examples:

Here I have chosen two examples of the scale in the sculptures. These works belong to the modern era and artists. In both examples the ideas inside minds were depicted in reality using the feature of scaling.

1) Louise Bourgeois' Spider,1996,cast 1997, bronze cast with silver nitrate patina.National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

http://www.nga.gov/feature/sculptgarden/2.htm

Louise  Bourgeois has been developing a body of work with the spider as protagonist. He started from  drawings to large-scale installations. In this work of Bourgeois, spiders appears as looming and powerful protector, yet are nurturing, delicate, and vulnerable. His work has explored themes of childhood memory and loss, the spider carries associations of a maternal figure. He used the "scale", one of the elements of the art beautifully in this example to tell the people what he wanted to give as an idea: the motherhood.  Indeed, Bourgeois' "Spider"  relates to her own mother who died when the artist was twenty-one

2) Claes Oldenburg's and Coosje van Bruggen's Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, model 1998, fabricated 1999,painted stainless steel and Fiberglas. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

 http://www.nga.gov/feature/sculptgarden/12.htm

Here in this example, once again we can see the impact of scaling on people. In the mid-1960s Claes Oldenburg began to make drawings of monuments based on common objects, such as a clothespin or a pair of scissors, challenging the notion that public monuments must commemorate historical figures or events. His choice of  discredited or obsolete objects extends to those remembered from childhood. As a youngster playing in his father's workplace, one of Oldenburg's favorite office supplies was a typewriter eraser. In the late 1960s and 1970s he used the eraser as a source for drawings, prints, sculpture, and even a never-realized monument for New York City. This sculpture presents a giant falling eraser that has just alighted, the bristles of the brush turned upward in a graceful, dynamic gesture.
 

Bibliography:

The Alphabet of Art,The Robert J. McKnight Memorial Web Site

http://www.guidancecom.com/alphabet