Specialy A&S Events (was Re: ANST - aesthetics and function)

[Lenny Zimmermann]

On Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:40:10 -0500 (CDT), Mistress Aquilanne wrote:

>Hi all. Aquilanne here.
>
>H.E. Bors writes:
>>OK- but how do we change a system that has been ingrained for so long??
[snip]
>>What would others like to see rather than the traditional Pretty Thingy win
>>the compitition??
>
>That's a really good question. What kind of events would other folk like to
>see as specialty A&S events?

After having given a great deal of thought on some way to make A&S
competitions seem more period, or at least more viable to a period
persona, we in Bjornsborg have decided to take a slightly different
tact for our next event. We have been doing some asking around to get
folks with a good knowledge of some area of A&S to act as "patrons" of
some form. These patrons will actually be judges, but only for the
specific form. So we might have a patron saying they need a Stained
Glass (possibly to include some of the other "glass" forms, like
enameling) piece to place in their local church. Or someone may say
they are looking for a new cook to sponsor. In this situation you
would bring the piece you wish to enter to the "patron" for
evaluation. They will then, hopefully, provide comment and discuss the
piece with the artisan. 

Problems I can foresee. Documentation could provide some distraction
from the period flavor of the discourse between entrant and judge we
are trying to encourage.Making sure the entrants know and can find the
judge for their particular style. (Styles accepted will be made known
in the Notes & Challenges section of the next Black Star.) Criteria
will still not fully be known ,as has been discussed here, and each
judge will have their own ideas about how to judge a piece.We also got
stuck with a brisket cooking competition with a judge who probably
won't be able to judge any authenticity criteria, so his taste alone
will be the deciding factor. Well, at least we know the criteria for
that competition. ;-)

It's certainly not an all encompassing solution to anything, but it is
something a little bit "different". The angle we are trying to grab
with this is to make an attempt at giving A&S a period flavor, as most
competitions tend to pull strongly into mundanity. While I strongly
agree that modern research papers for documentation, having a xerox
copy of a judging form to pass around and comment on, and discussing
modern techniques for viably recreating a period style are all
necessary forms for including in A&S, I still feel it would be nice to
try some of these different styles of competition. We shall see if we
succeed. Any suggestions?

Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Bjornsborg
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio)
zarlor at acm.org
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