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Thinking About Scale

The word scale is used �to describe the size of an artwork. A sculpture can be large scale, like the Statue of Liberty, or small scale, like these sculptures by Simone Leigh. Scale can also describe the size of one part of a sculpture in relation to others.

How does scale affect �how you experience a �work of art?

Simone Leigh, Hammer Projects: installation view of small sculptures, 2016, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

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Close Looking: Simone Leigh Working on Brick House

Simone Leigh working on the sculpture Brick House in 2018

(on cover)

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Close Looking: Simone Leigh: Brick House on the Highline

Simone Leigh, Brick House, 2020, Installed on the Highline in New York City, NY

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Writing

Look closely at the images of Brick House by Simone Leigh in the previous slides.

What stands out to you?
What does the form of this sculpture remind you of?
Brick House is 16 feet tall. How do you think this sculpture would be different if it was very small? Why do you think it was important to the artist to make this sculpture so large?
In New York City, there are only a small handful of monuments depicting important African American figures in US history. Of these, only one is of an African American woman—Harriet Tubman in Harlem. In an interview about this work, the artist shared, “I’ve been thinking about the labor of Black women, what forms of knowledge they carry, and what kinds of labor they are involved in that’s not valued.”

What do you think is the message of this sculpture?

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Sketchbook

Here are some sketches developing the idea of a “Monument to Essential Workers”. (Also on next slide) The artist simplified the human form and experimented with scale. A smaller and more human scale is shown on the left, a larger, more overwhelming scale on the right.

Think about scale. How could you create a strong shape that can be seen and experienced from a distance?

Sketch some strong, simplified shapes that would impact �the viewer from both up close and far away. Imagine different �sizes for your monument. Draw a small figure next to your monument sketch that shows its scale.

If you could work with architects and builders, how big �would you go?

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Sketchbook Example

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Learn More About Simone Leigh

Simone Leigh video on the process of making Brick House

CBS Interview with Simone Leigh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B97GTER2KHE

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Remote Arts Learning Partnership

Module Two �

Studio in a School NYC Team

Julie Applebaum, Senior Director

Remote Arts Learning Partnership Project DIrector

Writing Team Project Team

Anne-Marie McIntyre Josef Zutelgte Belinda Blum Nicola Giardina Paul Urevitch

Jamie Powell Andrea Burgay Katherine Huala

Graphic Design

Don Giordano

NYC Department of Education OASP Team

Karen Rosner, Director of Visual Arts

Amber Lodman, Arts Program Manager Kaitlin Trammell, Remote Arts Learning Partnership Project Coordinator

NYC Department of Education Visual Arts Teacher Team

Maria Bonilla Susan Bricker Amie Robinson Lara Tyson

These educational materials were created through a partnership with Studio in a School NYC and The New York City Department of Education Office of Arts and Special Projects (OASP) and made possible by the generosity of The New York Community Trust.

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