In Edge of the Universe, letters of the alphabet cascade like a waterfall between two trees in Queenstown Park. As the falling letters gain in intensity and momentum, they spell out selected lines from six poems by New Zealand writers, before disappearing into a shallow reflecting pool below. As the letters hit the water, they create a reflected cacophony of illumination. The first letter to fall is a capital N; as it slowly rotates it becomes a Z, then N and Z once more – New Zealand – before fading away at the bottom. The work begins and ends with: “I live at the edge of the universe like everybody else”, from a poem by Bill Manhire. The music is derived from the structural characteristics of the six poems, and the six movements of the soundscape represent the atmospheres they evoke.

Texts are taken from poems by NZ authors: Bill Manhire, Patricia Grace, Lauris Edmond, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Marilyn Duckworth, and Patrick Lawlor.