Bombast

Scale and Proportion

“Math is the only place where truth and beauty mean the same thing” Bertrand Russell In math no one disputes the golden ratio’s most perfect proportions. Nothing else looks right. Mathematical proportions are found throughout nature. And proportion is a term more often used in art, but both can be used interchangeably. What we see is understood by intuitive intelligence. Beauty is the goal of both math and science as well as art. Beauty always depends on right proportions. When something is out-of-scale with its surroundings you don’t have to be an artist to know it’s unsightly, looks wrong, out of place. The projected ballroom overshadows the White House projecting a sense that it’s even more important than the historic building that has been the seat of power for our country. More like a throne room, it is a monstrosity that will never be beautiful but will be acutely visible. And that is the point. Visibility, the human need beneath all the others to be seen. Bigger and flashier gets noticed and maybe for some it’s enough. Likewise, the scale of a data center or an ICE detention center does not harmonize with the look or needs of the surrounding community. That it will use more than its share or energy and water is obvious. The existence of such places at all makes our visual response recoil. The people who say it doesn’t bother them are the ones who don’t look. Harmony s not the goal for those in charge. They want the look of domination. This is not just philosophical. Neurologists have shown that buildings affect our mood and sense of well-being. Out of scale architecture is felt as oppressive. We have specialized neurons for proportions is the hippocampal area. What is out-of-scale for human size makes people feel powerless and depersonalized intentionally, creating an illusion of permanence against the temporary passerby. The ballroom and other massive architectural plans are not just an aesthetic problem but also psychological. Understanding that it is an attack, we should fight the process of building these monstrosities. What we see affects us all the time. Because location is so woven into personal psychology these structures are an assault on our sense of connection to the world designed to emphasize how little we matter against the power of the monarch. Beauty is our guidance toward right relationships. As google’s AI says, “Beauty and rightness are deeply connected concepts… as expressions of moral and spiritual perfection.” It’s a conclusion drawn from all that is written about it on the internet. Looking at art can re-establish our connection to the whole. Artists communicate what it feels like to live in this world more deeply than what we hear and read. The arts can reinforce our sense of beauty as guidance to truth and resist imagery that’s meant to harm us.