19 Hagalaz
Picture
Disruption
Joséphine A. Garibaldi

Paul Zmolek

Creative partners for over 30 years, Joséphine and Paul co-direct Callous Physical Theatre, a pickup company focused primarily upon the devising of original text/movement ritual/theatre performance installations through methodologies derived from creative writing, poetic devices; vocal techniques; rhythm/sound patterns; choreographic methodologies and aleatoric composition.  We are intrigued with place, the sense of place, and the interaction with place that shapes who we are.  We collaborate: with each other, with community (community we encounter and community created while engaged in creative process) and the environment, both natural and man-made. Our work has taken us to Australia, Latvia, Portugal, Finland, and Italy as well as several states across the U.S.
19 Hagalaz
Disruptive/Natural Forces/Elemental Power

"The rune of elemental disruption, of events totally beyond your control..." - Ralph Blum, The Book of Runes
at Jo: For this rune, Paul and I agreed to take alternating interpolated sections of the score (renamed A and B) and work independently of each other. The first round was dedicated to sound: Paul worked on A; I had B. Guided by the overarching theme of disruption and the associative words of the subsequent runes, I found sound that I felt was evocative of the spirit of Hagalaz. Hagalaz speaks to Natural Forces and Elemental Power. Now living in Florida, life is increasingly disrupted by storm activity. While devastating, the experience of these Gulf storms is sustained and durational; the sound, unforgettable.

Paul: My solution to the sound score was to recite each of the 5 words associated with the action prompt during the duration of each time bracket. As it proved impossible to recite 5 words in the one second time bracket of my first prompt, I layered a recording of two words over one of three words and then added the single word associated with the “action rune” recited over the entire duration of the bracket.
 
Once sound files were completed, we switched Hagalaz A/B scores to work on image content. Responding to the visual element of the runes, I went into our garden with a video camera to find plants that roughly corresponded to the shapes of each of my assigned action runes.

Jo: Visually, I perceived Hagalaz as tectonic plates violently shifting. Originally from California, I have lived through many earthquakes. Power outages often result and after the quakes have subsided, a sublime serenity settles. This peace reminds me of 'Thin Space'. Celtic in origin, 'Thin Space' is the place where the spiritual world and natural world meet, the place of balance, the meeting place of dark and light, above and below: the red road.