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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.

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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

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

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The Art of Being Judged -

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

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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.