[Ansteorra] How to Trap a Laurel

Thu Jul 28 07:01:37 PDT 2011

Arthur,

I completely understand your frustrations with A&S. I work in an art that
very few (perhaps 2-3 people) really have more than a passing familiarity
of. I've been told that I need to "dumb down" my research and show things
that were more "basic". I've also been told that my documentation
constitutes a research paper, so when I shorten it to just the "basic facts"
with little explanation then no one knows what I'm saying and I get
complaints about that.

Because of the kingdom's seemingly single-minded focus on fiber arts and
clothing (not entirely true, but it can feel that way); you either end up
working where everyone knows everything about what you are doing and they
all have their ideas about how you should have done it better, or you are
where no one has a clue and you get pushed off to the side in favour of what
everyone does know. I've thrown up my hands and walked away, twice, because
of it.

That being said, you should meet Sir/Master Gaston (who is literally a peer
twice over, and deserves it). He and others like him who I have known have
kept me going and provided some clear and welcome direction in the mass of
confusion. Take a break if you need to, but don't give up; and try not to
turn into a curmudgeon -- it's not worth it. Once you meet the right people
and find your groove (or niche) and how to apply it to SCA culture (remember
that the SCA has its own culture in the dream, as well as the period
cultures that we dream up) everything is worth it and it becomes loads of
fun (punctuated by moments where you want to strangle a judge).

--AS Zorzi

On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 1:41 AM, Ld.blackmoon <ld.blackmoon at cox.net> wrote:

> greetings
>
> i'm sorry if my reply gave the impression that i was upset .
> all i was doing was posting my opinions as to why i ( and others ) dont
> display or compete very often.
> when people get conflicting information on what the laurels / judges want ,
> it is most often easiest to just not enter . when one asks different judges
> what they should do ,documentation wise, and one is told " who, why, when ,
> where, how, with references to where you found your info," by one and " you
> need at least a 50 page documentation nicely bound, with step by step
> pictures of you doing the work, and then you will need to build a proper
> display so that it will attract attention , and you should stand there
> quietly ,until or if you are ask a question about your entry , oh and a cold
> beer or wine, and chocolate will always make them judge you better "  from
> another , its enough to make you throw up your hands and walk away .
> and while i can see putting up a fancy display if your displaying a body of
> work  for the competition , but if i'm going to " display ' the tools i made
> something with it will more than likely be because i made the tools as well
> , which would then require more documentation  ( did i mention my
> documentation skills bite ? ) your perfect brick display sounds like
> something a laurel with lots of time would create ,not your average to
> medium entrant. although during a recent discussion about making axes , and
> entering them in an a&s competition requiring a display as to how the period
> item would be used , people descided that a lifesize dummy with proper
> makeup whith knives and axes stuck in apropriate wounds , would attract
> atention , and display exactly how period blades would have been recieved in
> period , then we thought of doing the same with a dummy in armor and showing
> that arrows and crossbow bolts could and did penetrate most armors , but we
> also decided that watching people become nauseus wasnt worth the effort .
> allthough i must say , that in the past the northern laurels / judges were
> more likely to talk to me after ward than those farther south, this may have
> changed as i havent been able to afford to travel south much in a couple
> years.
> actually i have the oposite problem, i was brought into the sca by peers, i
> have spent 29 years running around and hanging out with peers,etc, so it
> takes more than a peerage to scare or intimidate me, in fact when a peer
> actually acts like an sca peer is supposed to act,  i am more impressed than
> i am intimidated. ( just a note, having never met gaston de clermont , i
> have to say that i am impressed by his response, seeing in my post that i
> did not understand the way things are suposed to be run , he did the noble
> thing , the peer like thing , and tried to enlighten me as well as giving me
> information on where to look to better understand the process . ) so a peer
> that admits they know nothing about my medium , but is willing to learn is
> more impressive to me ,than the peer that pretends to know , but then writes
> down things in no way relivant to the medium ,could ever be .
> again just my opinions
>
> Be Safe , Be Happy, Have Fun .
> Arthur
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <willowdewisp at juno.com>
> To: <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org**>
> Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 12:06 AM
>
> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] How to Trap a Laurel
>
>
>  Thank you for trying to help me out.
>> When Mistress Branywn came up with the idea of the Laurel Prize tourney it
>> was event for the Laurel's to spot light the emerging artisans of our
>> kingdom. We even had a tournament where each fighter fought for a Laurel.
>> The displays were a chance to show off not only the work of the artist but
>> his or hers knowledge of the cultures that go with the art. It was a time to
>> show off the artisan. it was a chance to have this pretty thing were we
>> admire each other.
>> Mistress Branywn went on to create the "Artisan" competition starting with
>> Artisan of the Steppes.
>> Before that everything was cut and dry. Art--Craft- documentation- win-
>> lose. We didn't talk about the Artisan we just talked about the piece. That
>> tradition is unbroken in the case of the North because they never followed
>> the Central fad of the artisan contest.
>> In fact the main group that still makes a big thing about displaying your
>> works in a pleasing and attractive manner is the Artisan of the Steppes and
>> of five years ago it was one of the hardest and biggest art event in the
>> kingdom. Artisan from throughout the kingdom and from other kingdoms would
>> show up.
>> Anytime you are looking at the complete artisan there is more to see than
>> just the piece.
>> For example we have been talking about the "perfect brick" in the piece
>> competition you put your brick down and the documentation showing everything
>> is in period. The judges give it a perfect score and that is the end of
>> story.
>> In an "Artisan" display you might put the brick in center and slightly
>> raised and like you were making a learning diagram you might show an article
>> on the history of the brick and some pictures of uses of bricks, period
>> tools for making bricks, kilns for bricks and papers on the changes in
>> bricks and how bricks affected the medieval culture.
>> This kind of display would show the kind of research you went into to
>> create this brick and If this display was put out at a demo it would show
>> the SAC commitment to life long learning.
>> A brick can just be a perfect score or it is the tip of the iceberg of
>> lifelong research.
>> In the years long, long ago we would show  this kind of display in our
>> campsites. We called it "living Arts" and even gave prizes for it and some
>> people even got Laurel for it.
>> I am sorry that Lord Arthur got upset at my suggestion but I can assure
>> him that I haven't seen a single competition in the North that cares if you
>> put a pretty cloth under your item. I think he is being unfair to the people
>> up here.
>> On the other hand a piece of chocolate and a piece of cloth that will help
>> us start talking without me sounding like I am grilling a crime suspect
>> would be nice. I find it hard to open up with people who are shaking in fear
>> because I am a Laurel.
>> Mistress Willow de Wisp
>>
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