ANST - Documentation (was Brewing competition results...)

[Patrick J. Cuccurello]

At 08:59 AM 2/15/99 -0500, you wrote:

Okay, I'm going to stick my head out here on this one, put on my pointy
little Laurel cap, and resonate in a tone use by your Sophomore calculus
teacher  :)  Keep in mind, this is merely my opinion, your mileage may
vary, post no bills, this means you, besides--I had a note from her mother,
and I don't even own a yak.

>documentation for A&S entries. There seems to be a trend towards putting more
>emphasis on documentation than on the work itself. (I'm not picking on you or
>this particular competition, you just reminded me of this ongoing debate, and
>some of the "fallout" it has brought.)
>

A good portion of that is due to the "balancing act"  that we have to
maintain between so called "educational pursuits" and the act of practicing
our Art (whatever that may be).  My experience has been that this is
usually a pendulum--swinging to one side and then the other--trying to find
a balance.  Unfortunately, sometimes those swings can be wide, and without
input by the populous and artisans--difficult to correct.  Many times, I
believe people are afraid to approach a judge or Laurel about things,
thinking that what they say may be taken badly.  Where granted, some do not
appreciate candor, I have found that many will be more than happy to listen
to a reasonable argument presented in a reasonable fashion.

As far as being a "Artisan" or a "Scholar", it is my experience that most
Laurel's expect you to be both.  After all, we are suppose to be an
educational organization and not an arts fair.  Granted, emphasis should be
place on the quality of the work, but some nod must be made to a basic
understanding of the medieval aspects of the Art and it's creation.  That
portion is usually shown in the documentation.  Where I may not expect much
documentation for something presented at a Baronial or Regional level, I
will have a higher expectation for something presented at a Kingdom or War
Point level.  Mainly due to the fact that it will be competing (at least at
a War Point level) with similar objects from another Kingdom who's ideas
may be foreign to us, or who in many instances place an even higher level
of importance on documentation.


<<<<<snippage>>>>>>

>If someone isn't qualified to recognize quality period craftsmanship when
they see it, why >are they judging?"
>

Because, many times, that is the best that we can get.  If you are making a
beautiful carved wooden chest using nothing but hidden fox tailed joints,
chances are, we are not going to find someone who will recognize that off
the bat, let alone appreciates the complexity involved.  If there is
someone around, they are probably competing against you.  So many times, we
are left with people who have an interest in an area who may not be an
expert.  This is especially the case if you are not working in one of the
more prevalent Arts like Callig/Illum, Fibre, Bardic.

In this instance, the documentation is all they have in order to give them
an understanding of what has been done.  The documentation is all they have
to fall back upon in judging the piece.  I do not think that documentation
should make or break a piece (except of course in research papers and the
like  :)  ).  However, that documentation is all the judge has to answer
any questions they have.  If you don't answer them, obviously they will not
be giving you all the credit you are due.  That is why I personally prefer
having the artist there to answer questions.

Personally, I write my documentation thinking that whoever reads it doesn't
have a bleedin' clue what I'm doing.  This is how they did it in Period,
this is how I did it, and in those instances where they don't match--yes, I
realize that it's different but I thought it would be cool to try it this
way using period materials, or techniques, or they don't make lute strings
from humpbacked albino sturgeons anymore, nanner nanner nanner  :)

>This simple tale illustrates what I see as a growing problem in A&S
judging, and
>with A&S competitions in general. I have personally witnessed scenarios
such as
>the one described above, where stunning works of craftsmanship only got
comments
>like this: "Needs better documentation", with absolutely *no* mention of the
>quality of the piece.

>

My guess is that the judges where either very rushed due to the number of
entries they had to judge, or didn't understand the piece well enough from
the documentation to point it out as a deficiency, or they may have merely
been *sses.........you never know.  I always put contact info on the bottom
of my sheets so I can have my "butt kicked" if I've been an *ss.  At the
very least, it provides the artist the ability to find out what I was
thinking when I judged the piece.  In most instances I've found that I've
gained a bit of an education.   Love those learning
experiences....hehehehe....

>I don't know why this is the case, unless maybe the Laurelate is "on
campaign"
>to improve documentation, and so is emphasizing it in order to solve a
problem.
>Maybe, in some competitions, the workmanship is too good across the board to
>judge a winner, and so the documentation is being used as a "tie-breaker".
Maybe
>judges feel they are too pressed for time to write positive comments, they
only
>have time to point out areas that need improvement. Or maybe it's this:
many of
>us who are called to judge are not qualified to judge the work, so we
latch onto
>what we *do* understand: the supporting documentation.
>

You know, every single one of those things mentioned are true in one
circumstance or another.  There are some judges who just love
documentation.  Sometimes, the documentation is what tips the scales
between two very similar pieces.  Sometimes, we are begging for judges and
the docs are all they have to understand the piece.  Sometimes it's "oh my
gawd, we've got Circle/end of event/dinner in 15 minutes and we still have
5 things to judge".  They all happen.....lots.

In one of the areas that I judged Saturday, documentation was worth 10
points out of 50.  That is 20% of the points available.  In a competition
where the top 20 pieces were within the 40-50 point range, that
documentation load weighs pretty heavy.  If it is that much of an issue for
the Kingdom, the easiest way to minimalize the impact on scoring is to
lower the total available points from 10 to 5 or 3 or as they do in some
Kingdoms 0.  You are required to have documentation, but it doesn't count
for any points.  Now if someone doesn't understand the work due to bad
documentation, those points will be coming out of another area.  So you are
really robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Where do you cut the baby?

You are all very lucky in this whether you wish to believe it or not.  Your
Laurellate here is extremely interested in what you as a populous think.  I
can safely say that the topic has come up to me on every opportunity that
I've spoken with a Laurel.  I realize that there can be  a specter of "Peer
Fear" out there, but all the Laurel's I've spoken too really do like
constructive input from the populous.  After all, in many cases, the
populous are the people in the trenches.  If this is an issue for everyone,
let us know--the worst that can happen is that we all run away screaming
while pulling out hair out  :)

Petruccio


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