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AS-Beg-Judged-art - 5/3/19
"The Art of Being Judged -
How to Enjoy Competing in A&S Competitions" by HE Jeanne-Marie la
Verriere.
NOTE: See also the files:
AS-compet-msg, AS-cont-docu-msg, AS-food-msg, Mystry-AS-Cmp-art,
Documentation-art, Doc-n-Obitury-art, AS-cont-docu-msg, 5x8-Doc-art,
cookg-compet-msg.
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NOTICE -
This article was submitted to me by the author for
inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's
Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at:
http://www.florilegium.org
Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the
author or translator.
While the author will likely give permission for this work
to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or
check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************
How to
Enjoy Competing in A&S Competitions
by HE Jeanne-Marie la Verriere
Barony of
Elfsea, Kingdom of Ansteorra
Introduction
I entered my first Kingdom A&S
competition in early 2018. For
those who may not know, in Ansteorra, Kingdom A&S is easily the largest and
most prestigious of all A&S competitions. If Crown Tournament were fought using only A&S entries,
THAT is how intense and exciting Kingdom A&S is! The stakes can be considered quite high, with all the
available Laurels in attendance to both judge the competition and consult with
the Crown for the Laurel's Circle meeting that usually follows. It's a big deal. A *REALLY* big deal! Naturally, every artisan who enters the
competition brings their absolute best entry, their A-game, in hopes of being
chosen the Kingdom Artisan.
For my first experience, I was nervous
and excited, just as anyone entering their first competition is, but I was also
confidant in my entry. I knew how
good it was, I knew where it needed some work, and I knew exactly where my
entry should place. I had been
honest with myself, and I knew that my entry was flawed in some areas and
excellent in others. I was
prepared, I was comfortable, I was ready to have a great day with friends to
geek out on artsy stuff! When all
was said and done, my final score had been generous tho still less than the
ideal 40 or better, and I had some great ideas about where to find new
resources. I'd had a really great
day!
However, I was not the only person
entering the competition. As I set
up my entry, I noticed some of the other entrants and their reactions – some
were visibly shaking with uncertainty, some were crying to relieve their
stress, and some were having breathing issues due to anxiety. Some kept changing their display over
and over again, complaining that anything less than perfect was not
acceptable. They were unsure,
rattled, and clearly uncomfortable.
It doesn't have to be this way for
entrants into an A&S competition.
In fact, it shouldn't.
Competitions are meant to inspire
artisans to create their best pieces, for the betterment of all. They allow us to show our talents,
display our progress in our chosen fields, and share what we've learned with
the community at large so that it may grow and progress. Sadly, it doesn't always happen this
way, and some artisans come away from the competition having had terrible
experiences and vowing to never compete again. Why does this happen?
The purpose of this class is to pass on
the tools and techniques that served me well during my first competition, and
have continued to ensure that every display and every competition is a positive
and healthy experience. Keep what
works for you, discard what doesn't, and have fun!
Preparation is the Key!
As with anything in the SCA that creates
impact, preparation is often what separates the truly fantastic from the
mundane. Ask any successful
athlete and they will tell you their success stems from countless hours spent
in preparation and practice. The
A&S activities of the SCA are no different.
According to the IT Learning and
Development department at Penn State University (1), the first critical steps
in preparing a presentation, which is essentially what we artisans are doing
when we compete, is to:
a) analyze your audience,
b) select a topic,
c) define the objective of the presentation.
This format works very well for SCA
artisans also.
'Analyze your audience' simply means to
learn the parameters of the competition – what type of competition is it (body
of work vs single item, etc.) what is the theme of the competition, how many
items are expected to be displayed, and so forth. Find out as much as you can about the expectations of the
competition itself, such as who is judging the competition and what are the
duties that come with the title of champion. Educate yourself as much as possible about every aspect of
the competition, and don't be afraid to ask questions of those organizing the
event. Trust me, they want you to
attend the event and compete!
'Select a topic' is very straight forward
– have a strong idea in your mind about what you want to create for the
competition, and how you are going to go about documenting your experiences
with it. Know your inspiration
item or situation, and know what all will be involved in the creation of your
piece. You don't want to ever be
in over your head during the creation process.
'Define the objective of the presentation'
is, I think, the most important point in the preparation process. This is quite simply your mission statement
with your piece – what is your intention?
Aside from simply putting down on paper what your overall goals are with
your creation, the larger question is the most important – what do you seek to
gain from your experience?
What is there to be gained, aside
from winning?
The overall goal is to win your
competition, yes. Everyone wants
that to be their end goal in the competition, to hear your name called in
Court, to receive the accolade and words of congratulations from the sitting
nobility, and maybe even receive a hand-painted scroll and a basket of awesome
loot!
However, there is more to this process
than just scoring another win and adding another championship to your
resume. There are major
possibilities here for personal growth, for adding to your internal resume, for
gathering new ideas, for networking with potential fellow artisans, and for
sharing your knowledge to improve your local, regional, or Kingdom community.
Upon entering any competition, ask
yourself – aside from just 'the win' what else can I learn from this experience
that will help me achieve my goal?
Perhaps you want to gain ideas about how to do a better display. Perhaps you want to see if any other
artisans are following the same artform path you are, and see if they have any
research ideas or leads you may not know about. There are hundreds of different possibilities for positive
growth in every competition you enter, you simply have to be open to those
possibilities, and you must make it a priority.
A&S Competitions are not 'Grades'
We all remember our time in elementary
and high school, yes? All the
countless assignments we had to complete and turn in, hoping for a good
grade. What did you consider a 'good
grade?' Were you only able to
accept an 'A' or was a 'B' or a 'C' acceptable to you?
The
SCA is not like other history recreation formats – this is not a situation of
gathering enough wins or 'A's equals an instant award or peerage.
So often, we are consumed with the
mindset of 'only an 'A' is acceptable to me' or 'only if I win this competition
were my efforts worth it.' Again,
getting a 'win' is a fantastic feeling, but it should not be the overall
concept ruling your path, mainly due to how fleeting it is. If you claim the win, great – but did
you grow? Did you improve? Did you find a new way of looking at
your piece, or your display? Did
you find some new research to help you along your path? Did you make new friends in the A&S
community? Quite often, the winner
comes away with far less than all the other competitors for this very reason.
Consider changing your mindset away from
the classic grading system.
A&S competitions are not pass/ fail situations, nor are they
graded. Every single one of them
is an opportunity to grow, to stretch yourself, to learn, to progress. It's completely up to you to make this
your priority, your goal.
If you aren't good enough without
it, you'll never good enough with it
"Peers are not made – they are
recognized."
This simple statement summed up literally
means that by the time someone is created a Peer, they've already been one for
a while now. How long? Maybe months, maybe years. There is no way to know, considering
how incredibly difficult it is to become a Peer. Consider that 3 things MUST occur in order for someone to be
created a Peer –
1)
The Crown must want to create the Peer
2)
The
Peerage Circle must be consulted regarding the candidate
3)
The
candidate should be ready
Yes, that last one could potentially be a
debate, but in a perfect world, everyone who is created a Peer should be ready
to accept those responsibilities.
More importantly, consider what those 'responsibilities'
are and really ask yourself – are you ready and able to perform those
responsibilities from now on?
Quite literally, once someone becomes a Peer, in theory, this is no
longer 'just a game' for them – once you're a Peer, YOU WORK HERE. Your Kingdom becomes your
responsibility, as does its growth and success. The Peers are the front line against all threats to the
group, and are directly responsible for the growth and prosperity of their
specific communities.
Consider what your local and regional
Peers do – they teach, they encourage newcomers, they suggest and run events to
give their communities a spotlight, they advise and contribute to the Crown and
each reign, they are involved not just in their Kingdom but the Society as one
large body, and so on.
As someone who may, at some point in your
SCA career, have asked inwardly 'why haven't they made me a Peer?', instead ask
yourself – are you doing the work of a Peer? Have you been doing this kind of work for your Kingdom, not
just your local or regional group, but for the Kingdom as a whole, for a number
of years now? What about the
Society? It's a very big question,
I know.
Not everyone wins
This is one of the hardest and most
complex concepts that an up and coming artisan/ scientist has to deal with –
not everyone will win.
The SCA is not a perfect system, but then
again, it was never created to be.
This group does offer reward, but
it does not guarantee it.
So often, we put ourselves and our chosen
artform 'out there' during competitions, and we are expecting that the judges
who are overseeing the competition will see our work, see our hearts and souls
that was poured into our items, see the love and dedication we've spent, see
the hundreds of dollars we've saved up and used on our items, and give us that
perfect score we've been dreaming of.
However, that doesn't always happen. Why doesn't that always happen? Because judges are not flawless. Judges are not perfect. Most importantly, it's unfair to expect our judges to know
the intricate details of every single artform practiced in the SCA. It's flat out impossible!!
With that said, it's critical that we, as
competitors, enter the competition with a mindset that allows us to emerge
victorious, regardless of what the final
score is. How do we do this?
The only way to win, every single time
you compete, is to truly know your worth, truly know what your piece is worth,
and to have already scored your entry yourself being as honest with yourself as
possible. If you go into any
competition knowing full well that you are a competent artisan in that
particular field, no one can question your dedication. If you go into any competition knowing
full well that your piece is clean and as flawless or as close to period as is
physically possible, then nothing anyone else says will be able to wound
you. If you go into any
competition knowing full well what your piece should truly score, then no one
else's attempt at scoring you badly will matter.
Not everyone can win a competition – it
is set up so that only one person can emerge the winner, and the parameters
often include emotions, biases, and opinions, none of which are flawless.
You be the Judge
Lastly, one of the most important things
you can do for yourself as an artisan is to 'walk a mile in their shoes.' What I mean by this is that I highly
encourage everyone to learn the judging process by BECOMING JUDGES.
Have you ever judged a competition? If not, or if the possibility does not
exist for you at this time, I would strongly urge everyone to 'shadow-judge'
the next competition that you are not entering. Did you know that you can ask to 'shadow-judge' at any time,
at any event? Granted, there may
be reasons that your request might not be granted, but more often than not, it
is a welcome request. One of the
most valuable opportunities I have ever experienced was 'shadow-judging' the
A&S Competition at Gulf Wars.
Doing so allowed me to see not just how my own Kingdom's judging process
worked, but that of other Kingdoms as well. I was able to witness the process of how an entry becomes
the winner, and to what caliber the judging is measured by. I was also able to see what the other
artisans in other Kingdoms put forward, and what those other Kingdoms consider
their top most artistic offerings.
It was invaluable to see this process, and helped me grow in more ways
than one. If I am being perfectly
honest, I felt myself enjoying a healthy dose of humility, because I saw not
only what the artisans were putting forward as their best work, but I saw the
hard work and dedication of those judges (all Laurels, by the way) who were
literally giving up hours and hours of their hard-earned vacation time to stand
around in an enclosed room trying to score, grade, and write in commentary on
score sheets knowing full well one wrong word or one misspoken phrase could
potentially wreck another person's confidence and passion for the arts. What a hugely weighted responsibility!!
Final Thoughts
We, as individual artisans, are the ones
who are directly and completely responsible for our own positive growth and
well-being in the SCA. It is not
the Laurel's job to pet us and remind us constantly of how fantastic we are as
people and artisans (tho let's be honest, a few of the really fantastic ones
do, and it is very much appreciated, but such people are the exception, not the
rule here.) It is their job to nurture the arts and sciences in this Kingdom,
and they do this in many ways, one of them being to judge entries and suggest a
winner to the sitting nobility or the Crown. As much as they might want to award every single one of us
with a 'win' in every competition we choose to enter, they cannot. They can only do what they can do, and
they aren't perfect. In fact, it's
exceptionally unfair to expect them to be perfect. So, going forward, please be considerate, show your
peerlike-qualities by being as patient with them as we would want them to be
with us.
Lastly, I would strongly recommend that
each and every one of you seek to grow as artisans by educating yourselves
outside of the SCA. Take classes
at mundane art guilds and maker spaces, read/ listen to books that give you the
tools to grow as craftsmen/women and leaders, and so forth. Do what you must to become the Peer you
would want to judge your own work.
Footnotes
(1)
http://tutorials.istudy.psu.edu/oralpresentations/oralpresentations3.html
------
Copyright 2018 by Michele Reichek, <txcolorandstyle at
yahoo.com>. Facebook: Michele
Hays (MicheleLeeBouchard). Permission is granted for republication in
SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable
attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication
and if possible receives a copy.
If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would
appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the
Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track
which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.
<the end>