[Sca-cooks] Overdocumentation
Laura C. Minnick
lcm at jeffnet.org
Thu Nov 18 20:20:43 PST 2004
At 04:58 PM 11/18/2004, you wrote:
>> Craftsmen want to make a "thing", then they want to
>>show it off. It can be pretty far out of the comfort
>>zone to have to also write a paper about the "thing"
>>before it counts for display.
>
>Or, as I like to put it, requiring that every period project be
>accompanied by a term paper is a good way of discouraging period projects.
>
>But then, I'm not an admirer of arts contests more generally.
I have to say that I agree. While I understand that many people find that
they are more motivated to push for a higher standard in their work when
they are working on a contest entry, I find that there is a negative
flipside to this- that is, the idea that you only do the research/use the
period techniques/use the most authentic of materials when you're doing it
for a contest. How many times have you heard someone say something like
"Oh, this isn't period, it's not for a contest or anything"?
Putting together documentation for a project is a good way to check our own
progress- it makes it a little harder to let things slide (or at least we
have to be honest about it). But in a perfect world, we would do the
research and craftsmanship for the pleasure of itself- just because it's a
neat thing to do, not because of an external reward. Of course this isn't a
perfect world...
'Lainie
___________________________________________________________________________
The penalty good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be
governed by men worse than themselves. -- Plato
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