June 26, 2011

Stuff Isolde is Not Allowed to Do:

Entry #84757:

There is an A&S competition coming up at Trillies where you earn points for each component of the piece that you made using period techniques.  So like...if I entered a scroll, I'd get extra points for having made the paper, mixed the pigment, cut the quill, etc, etc.

So I am NOT going to enter an original troubadour-style song with original harp accompaniment and documentation that reads, "I should get extra points for the following:
1)  Using period techniques to not write it down.  Troubadours didn't write down shit.
2)  Using period techniques to procure my harp.  Someone else made it, and now it's mine.  This is EXACTLY how the troubadours did it.
3)  I did not slaughter the sheep to harvest the guts for my strings.  Extra points for avoiding animal husbandry like any self-respecting troubadour.
4)  I expect to get laid as a direct result of my awesome song.  Even my motivation is period!"

I'm not going to enter that as documentation.  That would be sarcastic and wrong.  That said, I'm also probably not going to enter the competition.  I mean - I get it, and it's cool.  Encourage people to learn new things, get a better understanding of the items that would influence your art, etc.  I'm just a depth girl, rather than a breadth girl is all.  I'd rather take the time to write a really good song, and then play it on a harp made by someone who took the time to learn what he was doing.

My art doesn't produce physical items, so there aren't many arts that are really adjacent to it.  And those that are - ie, musical-instrument making - deserve the kind of devotion that music has already claimed from me.  That said - I expect to see some really awesome scribal and textile entries, and I'm looking forward to some quality drooling.  :-)