Artist meshes modern technology with history by Deb Benedett, Winona Daily News, Thursday, October 5, 1995
YUCATAN, Minn. - Dan Senn sidesteps cow pies, carries cumbersome equipment down steep hills and unwraps his equipment from Cling Wrap.
"I'm used to nice, clean, slick gallery spaces and halls,'' the Washington artist says, standing in the midst of a cow pasture in rural Yucatan.
Senn, shovel in hand, has been preparing his sound and video installation in the area catacombs for two months. "If I had been a pampered city kid, I don't think I could have made it," Senn said.
But, because Senn spent part of his younger years working on his Aunt Marilyn Hahn's farm in Yucatan, his artistic residency has been like a homecoming.
As Senn pilots a farm truck on a rough, narrow path, he explains that he was a young boy in the '50s when he was first introduced to the catacombs - once burial grounds for the Winnebago Indians.
Senn then points to a rectangular foundation - all that is left of a dance hall, which opened in 1935 and stood just a few feet from the catacombs.
The dance hall, kitchen and lookout was a short-lived business venture by area individuals, looking to start a tourist attraction. It closed in 1938 - a victim of the Depression.
In the 1930s, Senn said, the cave was blasted to make it more easily accessible.
"About 100 years ago they found two skeletons of a young person and an adult lying in the cave. They were just digging with spades. They didn't pay much attention to the sensitivity of the American Indian,'' he said.
Winnebago skeletons were thrown down the hillside and artifacts were damaged.
"But how can you think about archaeology when you're struggling to clothe your children?'' Senn said.
As Senn stepped inside the dark mouth of the catacombs, he said, "Just think of it as a Disney Land exhibit.''
Once inside, hearing the voices echoing down the corridors and seeing the glowing monitors will bring an understanding of Senn's concept of combining contemporary art and technology with the ancient cave's history.
One monitor, down the gradual descent of a corridor, shows Oscar Dotseth of Spring Grove telling about being paid to dig out the entrance with a shovel 60 years ago.
Altogether, 10 individuals discussed the cave, dance hall, their lives and history of the valley for Senn's project.
In black and white, the stark reality of the hardships the rural community faced during the Depression are often reflected.
Further into the cave, four monitors create a kaleidoscope of images called percussive videos.
And further in, Senn's sculptural instruments create rattling, chiming and even wailing sounds that echo through the lofty ceilings of the catacombs.
The tour will end, he said, with the face of his baby daughter on a color monitor.
"I don't really know the meaning . . . though I think it will be quite meaningful,'' he said.
Senn explained that he has arranged for local individuals to give tours of the area during this weekend's opening, just as they did 60 years ago.
His hope, he said, is to gather together a group of local ``old timers'' who will spend time drinking Spring Grove pop and reminiscing.
"I think the social aspects are going to be as important as the aesthetic.
"My biggest joy comes from bringing this joy to them. I am using contemporary art to do something of social value to these folks,'' Senn said.