The Scale

A meditation on distorted perception, invisible shame and toxic aesthetic norms.

An analogue weighing scale, fully functional yet rendered useless. Every number on the dial has been replaced with the word fat, leaving the needle intact but the measurement absurd. In The Scale, the artist materialises the internal logic of body dysmorphia: a condition where perception detaches from reality, and the verdict is always the same.

Rooted in lived experience, the work invites viewers into the invisible repetition of daily self-judgement, the compulsive rituals, the distorted mirror, the shame that shadows even the healthiest body. But it also widens the lens. The Scale speaks to a broader cultural pathology: how appearance is commodified, how shame is engineered, and how value is measured in units that serve profit over wellbeing.

Like all instruments of control, the scale appears neutral: precise, familiar, clinical. But beneath its surface lies a narrative of coercion: aesthetic norms enforced by capitalism, media, and algorithm. And if it’s designed to make you feel unworthy — who benefits?

Discover more about the part piece here: https://art.alexandrur.com/the-scale/