Narrator: This area is called the “Stream Garden.” Beyond water, trees, and plants—these huge boulders are a key feature. Their colors and fractured surfaces appealed to Robert Irwin as he chose where to place them in the streambed, fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle.
This wasn’t just for visual effect: There’s an acoustical quality to the stream. It changes tune all the way down the hill—especially at bridge crossings. ...
But it does take being aware, to fully take-in the shifts in sound.
Diana Winston is an educator at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center.
Diana Winston: Oftentimes when we listen, we have all sorts of stories we overlay with the experience. I like this, I don’t like this. What if we were simply to listen?
It’s about attention; how our attention impacts our perception of the senses.
You can walk around the stream, finding different areas to stop. And then close your eyes or open your eyes ... You’ll hear all kinds of sounds.
Narrator: Irwin thoughtfully considered the size and positioning of rocks. On one side of a bridge he created a dam-like arrangement to trap the water and create an echo-chamber like effect.
[SFX: stream above 2nd or 3rd bridge]
On the lower side of a bridge, he’d allow water to course more freely, with some rocks in the streambed to create gurgling or crashing sounds.
[SFX: stream below 3rd bridge]
Diana Winston: In different areas of the stream ... it’ll be louder;
[SFX: stream further down hill]
the water rushes more quickly ...
Narrator: The tune of the stream is also modified by the changing nature of the streambed, which is pitched more steeply at the bottom of the hill. As you continue along the path, Irwin aimed for the sound to get louder.
