The Point Defiance Promenade A look at Dan Senn's Sound Garden "attenuatheatre" and his new Canopy Lyre by Meg Smith, Tacoma Weekly, May 1-8, 1997 ...
Half-way down the walkway in a natural "attenuatheater" internationally known artist Dan Senn constructed a Sound Garden. Large stones placed in the gully mark places to detect distinctly different environmental sounds.
The weekend of the dedication, Senn installed "The Canopy Lyre," a stringed instrument strung between trees and the stream below. The wires shone in the sun like the strands of a cobweb, holding [Chromex] chrome dishes, 1960s curved and footed chrome serving trays of various sizes, onto the line. The strikers were wooden dowels with wooden beads glued on for the actual striking point and for counter weights. Cans placed in the stream below were moved by the water which moved the connected wires causing the strikers to sound the plates. The plates rang with a soft sound, reminiscent of brass gongs in a Zen garden.