Talking to Judges about the Art of Judging: an Annotated Performance Text

We performed this paper at the Judicial Reasoning: Art or Science? conference held at the Australian National University in February 2009. We were performing on at least two levels: as academics and editors of a collection of judicially-authored essays on the art of judging but also, as we proclaimed at the outset, as Jester and Fool. We did not appear in costume as jesters or fools. We did not even appear as fairies, although one of us is well-known at Southern Cross University for donning fairy wings and fairy tales featured in this performance (as did sheep, land rights and playfulness). But then, our audience of judges had also left their costumes behind; there were no wigs or robes. They were in
civilian clothes, recognisable only as judges through name tags. They were, in fact, unmasked. Greta began by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land. Nicole then spoke. The accompanying slide portrays a fool, colourfully clad, balanced lightly and without any apparent concern at the edge of a precipice, and a jester in classic costume.