[MR] Judging scores

[Signora Sveva Lucciola]

Greetings!

I noticed getting "docked" points for using a non-period material was
mentioned in the recent thread. This brought to mind a trend I have
noticed that considers the points to be there and the judges counting
off for things they don't like...sort of like a yes/no quiz that has
the possibility of a perfect score and each wrong answer is points off.


When I judge, I look at the entries in just the opposite way. Each
entry starts at 0 and each element that I see adding to the enhancement
is added to that...but even so, it might not ever be a perfect 100 (or
in our case 36). Before you get upset at the unfairness of this, let me
explain a bit.

Documentation, Authenticity, Complexity, Workmanship, Creativity, and
Judge's Discretion are the common aspects judged, although some
competitions have a special theme. For your item to be a perfect score,
it would have to be both authentic (based on a period thing, made in
period way, with period tools and materials...etc.), and yet still be
creative (so not an exact copy), very complex and executed perfectly.
AND you would have to explained all this in your documentation in a
manner that was both thorough and yet well organized and concise, and
with trusted reliable resources. 

That is a pretty tall order! I know that none of my entries can ever
claim to be that perfect! In fact, many of the ARTIFACTS themselves
wouldn't score well on complexity or workmanship or creativity! But
then, they weren't being made to be in a competition...They were made
for people to use in their daily life. When entered in a competition,
the judges are going to be asking "Is this the best it could possibly
be?" 

So why bother with the these criteria and judging sheets, etc? First,
we like to have a winner and we all like to BE winners sometimes! These
give us some level of being able to balance apples to oranges.
Secondly, the hope is that the judge's comments can be something to
help you move this art form to a higher level. Perhaps pointing out an
area you can improve on, or a direction you could explore further. 

Some people have decided that this process isn't their cup of tea. For
those who only want the applause, there are competitions that have
"popular vote" or bean counts, etc. I personally dislike these, as I
feel that the documentation is looked at even less. People come by and
go "oh, that's pretty" even if something is terribly modern, while they
might totally overlook a wonderfully authentic but less dramatic entry.


Of course, you can almost ALWAYS choose to display your works. If
displays aren't mentioned in the flyer, you can always contact the A&S
coordinator and ask if it would be ok. In the tightest situations they
might ask you to bring your own table, etc., but they are usually quite
happy to grant you space!

Okay, I seem to have gone off on tangents here, so I'll wrap up. Feel
free to contact me directly if you take issue with something I have
written, but don't be surprised if it takes me a couple of days to get
back to you, as I don't get to my email frequently.

Signora Sveva Lucciola 



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com