ANST - Judging Standards (Was: A&S - does utility count?)

[Gail P. Taylor]

Here are a couple of thoughts that I've had while reading this thread....

Harsh Judging:  I've seen it happen once.  I've seen the Laurels come down, hard,
in response.  My impression is that the Powers that Are in SCA A&S in this
Kingdom are trying quite hard to make judging as gentle and fair (as possible).
They want to encourage people to create things, rather than chase them away.

Fair Judging:  I like the new judging forms- I can imagine that they make judging
A&S much easier and possibly fairer.  But, as in Ice Skating...strange things
will happen now and again.

Documenting the Well-Documented:   I must stress that your background info (which
may be brief) on your craft  is often for the benefit of the judges, who may know
how to judge, but not much about your particular artform.  I've looked at A&S
displays from the mindset of, 'What would I do if I had to judge or comment on
this." If you have made something involving stained glass, I can give you enough
feedback to bury you to your neck.  I know about modern ceramics (superficially),
lost wax casting (less superficially), a little on subtleties, some on
illumination.  If I went to an event and there were no Laurels, and was asked to
judge, documentation would be vital.   For example...if someone had something
that was beautifully woven...and didn't give me background at this stage of my
career...I'd be hard pressed to say anything at all about it.

Sheep-to-shirt:  I had someone ding me once for not blowing my own glass.  I
added a permanent line to my documentation:  Glass: Source:  Like medieval glass
painters (Brown and O’Connor, 46), I purchased my glass from a merchant.
It hasn't happened again.  I love documentation.

Substitution of Materials and Methods:    Materials:  I use the most period
materials that I can when making something that I know I want to enter in an A&S
competition.  But...even they fall short of what was used by period glass
painters.  I simply point out the differences in my documentation...and show that
I known how the objects were supposed to be made, and that I had looked into
making them more authentic but couldn't.  Methods:  I've pointed out in my
documentation that medieval glassmakers used a red-hot poker to locally crack
their glass...and that I'd likely burn down my home or maim myself if I attempted
to do so.  Similarly, I've noted that my home-owners association would probably
sue me if I built a period glass kiln in my backyard (heck...they don't even like
storage sheds)...so I use my electric kiln.  Documentation can be funny...

What are we doing?  What we choose do in our A&S creations depends on our goals.
Some of the most beautiful stained glass work in the world was created using the
foil technique, which is post-period.  But my goal isn't only to create something
beautiful.  If, somewhere, period stained glass has been foiled together, my goal
would be to unfoil it and put it back into the form in which the original artist
made it (for this reason, I also take out cracks that I feel resulted from damage
post-creation damage). I hope to learn enough about making period stained glass
windows that I eventually become skilled enough to have made a living as a glass
painter in the early 16th century.  The judging sheets employed more or less
promote this type of exploration.  To do very well on them, it's my impression
that you must either be recreating a period piece as nearly as possible or
creating something using methods or style employed in the SCA period.

Where does this leave those who are fine artisans but not historians?
Just as in the Martial Orders, those running A&S are faced with people who are
fantastic artists...but who may have spent little time on developing themselves
in the other aspects of SCA life, including researching the historical context of
their craft.  What to do?  Above all...be encouraging and accepting...and show
them how it really CAN be fun to explore their craft to greater depth.  Give good
feedback and place them in contact with others.

Misc:

*Those who don't want to be judged can enter their work as display only...and
explain what type of feedback they want.
*Those who make beautiful but "unperiod" things can enter competitions in which
the populace chooses the winner.

*Those who made SCA-Utilitarian type work/Mundanity covers...hmmmm.  I can easily
see these as a separate type of competition with different judging
criteria...though if they were documentated extensively, they could do well with
experienced judges.
Which makes me think...hmmmm.  As Gilli has proposed...this type of competition
would really showcase the creativity of our populace and give people good ideas
about covering up the modern.  This coudl be quite fun.  Oh ATYC autocrat...could
we add such a competition?

HL Isobel Hadleigh

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