ANST - A&S - does utility count?

[D Arrington]

On Sat, 8 May 1999 15:32:09  Don Christian Dor wrote:

>I have noticed that those who judge and critique A&S tend to focus on 
>what I think of as the "fine arts" aspect, with a portion of 
>documentation thrown in.
>
>Some areas that seem to be ignored are the cleverness of the work and 
>it's utility, particularly as relates to its use in the SCA.

Vivat!  Someone brings the issue to the front of the line!  The gauntlet is toss, let the discussions begin!

<SNIP>

>My question, to the A&S folks, is do you feel the approach taken in 
>the examples above is valid? 

No, but one thing that I find about A&S judging is the "apples and aurochs" problem of judging.  You can have two different pieces from completely different areas of work and research and one will win for a couple of reasons:

1.  The judges had very little (or no) experience with a particular piece, and could not effectively or objectively rate it's value.

2.  The judge(s) saw one (or more) other pieces that happens to fall within their specialties, and rated it a LOT more critically than they did anything else in the competition.

Objectivity, of course, is difficult.  In my mundane job, I've had to sit on (and chair) Airman of the Quarter Boards.  From time to time, I'll get a young person in front of us which when I read the write up, I'll know EXACTLY what this goon (affectionately used) does, and the write up inflates the importance of the work the individual does.  The problem is: the other judges don't know this, and if I tell them that the write-up is inflating what he does, I'm biasing the whole board.  I have to keep my mouth shut (and believe me, that's difficult - ask anyone who knows me) and wait for the the other members to vote on this individual's performance and writeup.

Personally, I think "utility" or "modern creativity" is a category that is discarded entirely too much.  We live in this time period and have to make some allowances for all the wonderful things that keep us surviving in this age.  Why not reward someone who comes up with a novel idea that's useful, functional, and best of all keeps the appearance of the middle ages?  In this respect, we can all forget about the job, bills, and bosses when we go to an event because the glaring reminder (beer can cooler or whatever) won't be sitting right there in front of us reminding us that the weekend is very short.  I still will continue to do period work, but if I see something that's "modern utility" (nice work, covers mundanity, looks period even at close inspection, etc) I will at least give that individual a pat on the back and buy them a beer/wine cooler/soda.  Right before I ask for the blueprints... ;-)


Thorgrim, 108 days left on an 8 year voyage
Still plundering the remains of the Ottoman Empire...
---
"Madness in great ones, must not unwatched go."
             - Shakespeare


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