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Scale Models
Artists turn everyday objects, animals, and figures into monuments. This hands-on activity explores scale.
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Scale Model Example
An everyday object such as a scissors is the subject of this project. Please refer to the full Scale Models lesson plan in a PDF format at the beginning of this slide presentation.
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.67" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3470/3884180047_67eb7eac21_t.jpg" height_offset="0" style=" border: 1px black; position:relative; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"/></div>
Scale Model Example
In this lesson, students will learn about the importance of size and distinguish between life-size and an increased or decreased scale in art. They'll draw a household object in three sizes and turn the drawing into a soft relief sculpture.
Art lab lesson plans are presented as PDF files that you can view with the ArtsConnectEd image viewer or download to your computer. Use the Prev/Next buttons to move between the images of a PDF and the actual file.
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3470/3884180047_67eb7eac21_q.jpg" height_offset="0" style=" border: 1px black; position:relative; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"/></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.772135416667" id="zoomer_31255_23436iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/c7/3c/467846c588e7765fd04633109230/93.24/79.92/31255.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="<p><span style='text-decoration: underline;'>Art Lab: Scale Models</span></p>, Walker Art Center" height_offset="0" /></div></div></div>
Spoonbridge and Cherry
Artist: Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, 1942-2009
Date: 1985-1988
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 354 x 618 x 162 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1988.385
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:109.826353422px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.27473958333" id="zoomer_22592_45409iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/68/8e/f000fe08165fa7b33e9cde49b3ae/140/120/22592.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Spoonbridge and Cherry, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen" height_offset="0" /></div>
View of Spoonbridge and Cherry, with Sailboat and Skater
Artist: Claes Oldenburg
Date: 1988
Medium: Drawings and Watercolors, Drawings
Size: unframed 33.5 x 20 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1991.13
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.600260416667" id="zoomer_22886_22127iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/dd/4a/4018172d797661055f1b88cb85fa/140/120/22886.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="View of Spoonbridge and Cherry, with Sailboat and Skater, Claes Oldenburg" height_offset="0" /></div>
Spoonbridge and Cherry
Artist: Walker Art Center
Date: 1998
Medium: Documentation
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:105px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" id="zoomer_26719_26063iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/bf/09/026bb7443853ca7ed599183099fb/140/120/26719.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="<em>Spoonbridge and Cherry</em>, Walker Art Center" height_offset="0" /></div>
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Spoonbridge and Cherry (1985-1988)
Claes: "Very often I am sitting at dinner and I take out my notebook. I get very inspired when I eat, for some reason."
Coosje: "One of the things that sculptors who work in an urban surrounding think of is scale, the object in comparison to the other things in the surroundings--buildings, the highway, the Cathedral, lantern posts, anything."--Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen
A highlight of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the monumental fountain-sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. While Oldenburg and van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, have produced a number of large-scale sculptures of everyday objects, such as a flashlight in Las Vegas and a firehouse in Freiburg, Switzerland, Spoonbridge and Cherry is their first fountain sculpture. The giant spoon stretches 52 feet across a small pond shaped like a linden tree seed. A fine stream of water, just enough to make the aluminum cherry gleam, flows over the cherry from the base of the stem. A second stream of water sprays from the top of the stem over the cherry, down into the spoon and the pool below. In winter, snow and ice accumulate on the cherry and the bowl of the spoon, changing the sculpture's character with the seasons. The colossal spoon and cherry required unusual facilities for their construction, and two New England ship-building firms were contracted to build the huge aluminum and steel forms.
Artist: Walker Art Center
Date: 1998
Medium: Commentary, curriculum resource
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="gallery_item_text" style="width:135px; height:115px;" >Claes: "Very often I am sitting at dinner and I take out my notebook. I get very inspired when I eat, for some reason."
Coosje: "One of the things that sculptors who work in an urban surrounding think of is scale, the object in comparison to the other things in the surroundings--buildings, the highway, the Cathedral, lantern posts, anything."--Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen
A highlight of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the monumental fountain-sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. While Oldenburg and van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, have produced a number of large-scale sculptures of everyday objects, such as a flashlight in Las Vegas and a firehouse in Freiburg, Switzerland, Spoonbridge and Cherry is their first fountain sculpture. The giant spoon stretches 52 feet across a small pond shaped like a linden tree seed. A fine stream of water, just enough to make the aluminum cherry gleam, flows over the cherry from the base of the stem. A second stream of water sprays from the top of the stem over the cherry, down into the spoon and the pool below. In winter, snow and ice accumulate on the cherry and the bowl of the spoon, changing the sculpture's character with the seasons. The colossal spoon and cherry required unusual facilities for their construction, and two New England ship-building firms were contracted to build the huge aluminum and steel forms.</div>
Discussion Questions
Artists sometimes change the scale of a work to make it feel unfamiliar.
View the following slides. For each slide click on the "More Info" button and scroll down to the "Scale" tab to see the relative size of this work of art. Then discuss these questions.
What does it mean in art when we talk about scale?
How do you feel when you are standing next to a large-scale work of art?
Shoestring Potatoes Spilling from a Bag
Artist: Claes Oldenburg
Date: 1966
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: variable 108 x 46 x 42 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1966.46
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.477864583333" id="zoomer_110528_44790iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/bb/1e/a2f09d797a6af0663e38eb62508b/140/120/110528.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Shoestring Potatoes Spilling from a Bag, Claes Oldenburg" height_offset="0" /></div>
Upside Down City
Artist: Claes Oldenburg
Date: 1962
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 118 x 60 x 60 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1979.24.1-.35
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.596354166667" id="zoomer_22588_61814iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/99/68/d1c91a799f3d985cada807d77fc4/140/120/22588.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Upside Down City, Claes Oldenburg" height_offset="0" /></div>
Three-Way Plug - Scale A, Soft, Brown
Artist: Claes Oldenburg
Date: 1975
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: 144 x 77 x 59 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1979.120
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.763020833333" id="zoomer_22589_58561iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/c0/43/957633fca0a87cc093ab78addbeb/140/120/22589.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Three-Way Plug — Scale A, Soft, Brown, Claes Oldenburg" height_offset="0" /></div>
Standing Glass Fish
Artist: Frank Gehry
Date: 1986
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 264 x 168 x 102 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1986.68
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.889322916667" id="zoomer_22474_43565iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/bc/98/7f62bdb4821af08e4bd4e1a21359/140/120/22474.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Standing Glass Fish, Frank Gehry" height_offset="0" /></div>
Grass
Artist: Richard Stankiewicz
Date: 1980-1981
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 151 x 104 x 37 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1988.10
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.5546875" id="zoomer_22629_18701iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/a1/0d/2ec1f4e7911cd13399011066bcea/140/120/22629.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Grass, Richard Stankiewicz" height_offset="0" /></div>
Woodrow
Artist: Deborah Butterfield
Date: 1988
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: without base 99 x 105 x 74 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1988.375
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.16276041667" id="zoomer_22433_31134iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/84/2e/58c2714f357f3b2462201d76e9f0/140/120/22433.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Woodrow, Deborah Butterfield" height_offset="0" /></div>
Cavaliere (Horseman)
Artist: Marino Marini
Date: circa 1949
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 70.625 x 45.5 x 32 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1953.50
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.79296875" id="zoomer_22535_7380iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/54/9f/8f66790fa753018b84325613dea0/140/120/22535.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Cavaliere (Horseman), Marino Marini" height_offset="0" /></div>
Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers
Artist: Barry Flanagan
Date: 1983
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 102 x 112 x 75 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1987.63
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.96875" id="zoomer_22463_52953iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/04/03/0f75de778368c275e4ba26aeacd1/140/120/22463.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers, Barry Flanagan" height_offset="0" /></div>
Without Words
Artist: Judith Shea
Date: 1988
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall 78 x 80 x 118 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1988.391
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.03776041667" id="zoomer_20890_17646iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/90/29/503435c0c1aec9f6fa40991e8b04/140/120/20890.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Without Words, Judith Shea" height_offset="0" /></div>
Big Self-Portrait
Artist: Chuck Close
Date: 1967-1968
Medium: Paintings
Size: unframed 107.5 x 83.5 x 2 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1969.16
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.783854166667" id="zoomer_22154_34522iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/96/ea/c4e65c6ca4e243b6f30089c1984f/140/120/22154.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Big Self-Portrait, Chuck Close" height_offset="0" /></div>
Self-Portrait
Artist: Chuck Close
Date: 2000
Medium: Prints, Edition Prints/Proofs
Size: sheet 65.5 x 54.125 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 2000.62
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.829427083333" id="zoomer_20911_25593iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/d2/4f/d331d024510207de992c01f2188e/140/120/20911.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Self-Portrait, Chuck Close" height_offset="0" /></div>
Kiki
Artist: Chuck Close
Date: 1993
Medium: Paintings
Size: unframed 100 x 84.125 x 3.375 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1994.7
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.84375" id="zoomer_22155_20539iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/d4/40/17b0dff4d46f51dfc8ad3bf84b25/140/120/22155.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Kiki, Chuck Close" height_offset="0" /></div>
Model for Salute to Painting
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Date: 1984
Medium: Sculpture, Models
Size: overall 44.5 x 11.5 x 9 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1985.32
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.352864583333" id="zoomer_110495_27331iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/77/65/d6f743884baa6ecb4891259be9f5/140/120/110495.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Model for Salute to Painting, Roy Lichtenstein" height_offset="0" /></div>
Salute to Painting
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Date: 1985-1986
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 303 x 61 x 40 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
Accession #: 1985.31
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.432291666667" id="zoomer_110504_61334iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/13/9e/bd2feb929f02b40d4a19c6c40d57/93.24/79.92/110504.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Salute to Painting, Roy Lichtenstein" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.352864583333" id="zoomer_110495_1462iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/77/65/d6f743884baa6ecb4891259be9f5/93.24/79.92/110495.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Model for Salute to Painting, Roy Lichtenstein" height_offset="0" /></div></div></div>
Unpainted Sculpture
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:104.1796875px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.343832021" id="zoomer_20582_1047iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/f6/6b/e12f828f2a76357e9fa7ef309126/140/120/20582.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Unpainted Sculpture, Charles Ray" height_offset="0" /></div>
Poster: Charles Ray's Unpainted Sculpture
Artist: Walker Art Center
Date: 2006
Medium: Instructional Material
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:112px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.25" id="zoomer_27220_13236iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/50/e7/54ebeb973a11217101d0072b54c0/140/120/27220.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Poster: Charles Ray's <em>Unpainted Sculpture</em>, Walker Art Center" height_offset="0" /></div>
