Judging Problems at the "Garb from a Portrait" Competition, Artemisian Collegium, 2002CE/AS37

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If you have not yet seen my documentation packet for my entry to this contest, you can find it here. You should read it first before reading this.

To put my money where my mouth is, I will not beat around the bush as to the identity of the three people who judged my entry. They were Countess Courtme, Countess Caryng and Lady Crispy-anne. I'm sure they had the best of intensions, but I seriously think they collectively need to visit an eye doctor and a remedial reading specialist. My first complaint has to do with this figure (Figure 1 from the documentation). Despite my pointing this out to them DURING THE COMPETITION WHILE THEY WERE JUDGING, they continuously refused to acknowledge that Figure 1 was the period picture source from which I derived my garb entry.

Figure 2 in the original documentation was a close-up of the peasants and the wheat, with the sheaves outlined in black to show their location in the painting. Despite the fact that this was explained in the original documentation, the judges flunked their reading comprehension skill test and were unable to clue into the fact that this was merely a figure to help them deal with the lower resolution of the black-and-while figures I was forced to used due to a broken color printer... Their statement, therefore, that the garb modeled by Sir Michael did not have a black border around it is not at all germane and represents a significant failure on their part to read the documentation provided.

Amazingly enough to me and to several other people was judges' insistence that the last figure included with the documentation was intended to be the picture from which the grab was derived. This assertion has left me totally confounded, to be charitable, by the lack of seeing ability on the part of the judges. First, it should be obvious to anyone without severe myopia that this figure is a modern photograph, and not a medieval painting. Second, it should also have been obvious that this unlabelled and undiscussed figure was inserted for humor value. Making the assumption, in hindsight God only knows why, on my part that the judges would be intelligent people and would enjoy a little humor in the midst of their labors. Well, that's the last time I make THAT mistake...

I am also sorely disappointed and somewhat chagrinned to discover that my appeal to the Artemisian kingdom rules for the resolution of complaints about judging was summarily shot down, under the pretense that those rule did not apply. Well, I'm left wondering since this was a competition open to anyone in the kingdom, why they don't apply?!?!? Why develop a complaint procedure and then not use it??? IS THIS FAIR??? IS THIS RIGHT??? IS THIS JUST???

Last, I have to protest the treatment of my entry in comparison with the other entries. While I concede that the other entries were beautiful examples of medieval and renaissance clothes, my entry was the only real grab entered. If you run a garb contest where five sets of clothes and one real honest-to-Pete garb were entered, wouldn't you expect the only entry qualified to win to trounce the other entries. I protest! Have we gotten to the point in the SCA that we need to give out a basic English dictionary with every new membership??? Really, this has to be one of the biggest disappointments of my more than 20 years in the SCA...and it will be the last time I bother to do anything related to farming in this misguided group!!!

My only recourse left is to take my case to you, the members of the court of public opinion, and appeal to you to right this grievous act by three judges who seriously need to get new glasses... So write or call your kingdom minister of arts and sciences, and insist that the rules for appealing a bad-judging decision be enforced. Remember, the next bad case of judging may happen to YOU if we don't act together to improve the standard of judging in the SCA.

Click here to see my documentation for this competition.

Click here to return to my SCA Projects page.

Click here to return to my home page.

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If you haven't figured out that this page and the garb documentation page that accompanies it are part and parcel of a gag, then please go to www.humorclue.laf and get one!

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