Commentary: Surprise is around every corner by Tom Murphy, THE ARGUS, Caledonia, Minnesota, Wednesday, October 4, 1995
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I received the news release on Dan Senn's The Catacombs of Yucatan Sound and Video Installation about a month ago and read it and dismissed it as some improbable production schemed by a guy whose best talent was writing grants.
I mean, "transform the catacombs into a living instrument of light and sound." in Yucatan?
Then, I heard Doris Benson talk about it at the Houston Chamber of Commerce meeting and I decided to take another look at it.
A telephone call to Dan Senn through Marilyn Hahn's phone number confirmed an interview.
After a half hour drive on a beautiful autumn evening through the valley, I reached the farm and followed Dan up the narrow, winding township road.
The field we entered had to be crossed at a snail's pace because of the rutted, un-graded road pocked with gopher mounds. My truck lurched behind him and we stopped at a rusty, barbed wire gate which he opened for me as I passed through.
There were cattle along the path. Then, I saw the stunning view up the Yucatan valley that gave me a hint that this trip was worthwhile.
Dan stopped his pickup and showed me the foundations ofthe old dance hall. His voice gained confidence as we talked. He talked about the local people he had filmed in interviews . of their remembrances of the site.
Two people he mentioned, Oscar Dotseth and Allen Orr, are known "conversationalists.It appeared as though Dan had done his homework on the project.
Then we walked along the path to the cave's entrance. He pointed in the three directions commanded by the view above the valley floors 400 feet below. Clearly, this was a special place.
Dan led me down the cave which at times is narrow. There were about four monitors that will provide the oral history of the place.
At a turn, he showed me how he would hang the lights and produce the sounds that are his art.
When he told me how much time he had spent in the area as a youth, I was convinced this man had a feel for our history. That he respected our people and that his art would provide another interpretation of this area.
He is telling the story in a different way that I think will provoke thought and convey feelings for that special spot in Houston County.