After an hour of funeral-reception chit-chat Sunday, this was exactly the kind of conversation I needed.
"Yes, but they will have to share space with the Martians down there," I pointed out. "And then there's that whole penis business." The discussion of DIA conspiracy theories continued for several minutes, with people from across the country weighing in with what they had heard...and, in a few scary cases, believed.
When I was chatting recently with Matt Chasansky, who heads DIA's public-art program, I asked for his favorite DIA conspiracy. Not surprisingly, it involved a piece of public art: "Mustang," aka Blucifer, the 32-foot-high blue devil horse that marked its fifth birthday at DIA yesterday.Turns out "Mustang" has a connection to the Montauk Project, a government experiment during World War II that sent serviceman spiraling through the past and future. Allegedly.
And as the story goes, during one mission, U.S, troops landed in 2600, where they come upon a ruined city with the remains of a mammoth sculpture of a blue horse. (Think the end of Planet of the Apes, but with "Mustang" instead of the Statue of Liberty.)
Still, there could be some truth to this. Because come 2060, odds are good that "Mustang" will still be standing guard outside DIA.
Under Denver policy governing public art, a piece cannot be removed until it's been in place for at least five years. And yesterday, on Blucifer's fifth birthday, it got the best news of all: Absolutely no one is petitioning the city to get rid of "Mustang."
Hold onto your horses!
From our archives: "After five years, it could be time for 'Mustang' to mosey on."
