Learn Together
Artists find inspiration from everyday objects and looking at the world from different points of view. Helping your child learn to see things from different perspectives is an important life skill.
Materials
- Small objects
- Playdough, Model Magic, or clay
- Camera or smartphone
Make Together
Artists choose to make particular objects oversized or miniature to highlight their importance or encourage a new perspective.
Some examples of art that play with scale include Claes Oldenburg’s Dropped Cone, 2001, Yayoi Kusama’s giant Pumpkins or Jeff Koons’ oversized Balloon Dogs. Other artists use scale to bring attention to important subjects like Simone Leigh’s Brick House, 2020, or the artist JR’s Kikito, US Mexico Border, 2017.
Let’s create photographs that give your object a whole different scale!
- Select a small object that you think would look great giantsized like a pencil, a bottle of nail polish, a penny, or a small toy and set it on a flat surface or hold it in your fingers.
- Have a family member stand way behind the object.
- Pull the camera in very close on your object so that the object looks really big in the picture!
- Have your family member pose, pretending the object is huge! They can pretend to hold the object or lean on the object. Take the picture and check out the result.
- Create a series of pictures with more objects and share with family, friends, or on social media.
- Lastly, use playdough, clay, or Model Magic to recreate one of your small objects in a bigger size — like a paper clip the size of a dinner plate!
A lot of the art we shared today are examples of public art. Explore more public art in New York City