Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Chapter 10 - Question to you.
I was reading in Chapter 10 (pg. 232 to be exact), and I noticed the "Key Questions" box. One of the questions posed is, "What would happen to your composition if you dramatically changed the scale?" I then posed the question to myself, and this would be my response: If the scale was changed it would change the message of the piece entirely. Some works are made to be overwhelming and to draw the viewer's attention to the enormous space that it takes up visually (example: image 10.28 Giovanni Bologna's Apennine) and smaller works impress in the detail in the work, the viewer is often able to peer into and walk around the piece. (example: Theodore Gall's Plaza facets ). maybe the impact is more introspective. It's kind of like looking at a photograph of a painting in an art book, and you say, "Wow, great painting, interesting subject matter." But then you go to the museum and see it firsthand and realize this painting takes up half the length of the museum wall... and then you go, "WOW- what an amazing piece it's power and presence is almost overwhelming. I had the opposite response to Van Gogh's works of art. I was able to see them in L.A. What hit me was that I expected them to be much larger in size- a lot of his works were done on very small canvases. Still great to view firsthand, but it did impact my first response. So after all I have said... what do you think? Does the scale affect your composition? ... Robot Geisha (Lisa)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Everything affects everything, which in turn affects everything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree. In art history classes I often overwhelmed realizing the size of some of this art. I think size has a lot to do with how something is interpreted.
ReplyDelete~Enn
I completely agree. In the textbook you don't get the full feel of the painting or piece of artwork because it all appears to be the same general size. When I was eleven years old I had the chance to visit Europe. While I was in France, of course I went to the Louvre. I couldn't wait to see the Mona Lisa. I still feel that the Mona Lisa is a breathtaking piece. However, I was expecting it to be much larger in size. My initial reaction was not what I expected it to be. And considering that the Mona Lisa was encased in thick bullet-proof glass and also guarded by a special sealed box to protect it from vibrations and humidity, which was sectioned off by rope and two security guards,I lost the aw-inspiring effect even more.
ReplyDelete