“A child has ‘one thousand whys,’” writes Cam Smith, author of Buckminster Fuller for the Children of Earth. Fuller’s philosophy, that the components which make up our planet could be understood in the most fundamental of designs and patterns found in nature, could be translated most effectively through the innocent lens of youth.

Much of my practice involves maintaining a balance between improvisation and composing. In homage Fuller’s global representation, The Biosphere (located on Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal), I examined his architectural details in relation to the natural environment. In an attempt to keep this description simple I struggle against the “prison” of words: nature, manmade. It is musically liberated from the very strict parameters of traditional western notation; no set pitches or tempered tuning, just intonations coming closer to physical nature. Is there truly a difference if wo/man is as natural as the earth?  Composed on an electric Indian Tablix, this score for the Biosphere brought a new awareness to my sense of space and timing, trusting that the spatiality of the music would enhance the transitions rather than fill the space in what Paul Miller a.k.a. D.J. Spooky calls, “a dance with emptiness.”

–Mary Edwards

Mary Edwards, a member of The Recording Academy; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP); American Composers Forum; and the Architectural League, is available for interview or comment: maryedwardsmusic@hotmail.com