MARY EDWARDS: Everywhere We Are is the Farthest Place

Drawing partly on sound as a vibrational phenomenon and Space Analogues, Everywhere We Are is the Farthest Place is, according to composer Mary Edwards, “an ode rather than an elegy” to the transforming Arctic landscape, climate vulnerability, elemental sensuality and terrestrial/space connectivity. It is comprised of a score and text performed synchronically (and sometimes improvisational) with an immersive soundscape of cinematic audio and ambient field recordings of ice, water and wildlife sounds Edwards gathered from landings around Svalbard, Norway while on a sailing expedition on a research vessel above the 78th parallel. It documents the sound properties of glacial geology and oceanographic data, intended to provide access for all through sonification by “de-centering the centered and un-othering the others.”

In her iterative process, Edwards fortuitously discovered a participatory constituent. She began inviting audiences to interact with the same gear/instruments/tools (hydrophones, contact mics, keyboards, Waterphone, bows and mallets) she used to record and create on,…