(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Happy Birthday, Mustang Blucifer; A Colorado State Open Thread 2/13/23 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-13 Denver International Airport's best known art installation, Mustang, stands guard at the entrance to Jeppesen Terminal. The 32-foot-tall, 9,000 pound fiberglass and steel electric blue stallion, located in the median of Pena Boulevard near the terminal, was completed February 11, 2008. “It will forever incite dialog, will provoke dialog and discussion. Those eyes are what put the wild in the wild west. Many times, those eyes are perceived as warding off evil spirits. Certainly, if there’s one place we want to make sure we have no evil spirits, it’s right close to an airport. This is a beautiful piece of work. And It will forever be a part of the fabric of our airport and our city. Let this statue stand as a legacy of the beautiful mind and the creative work this man left for the world to see,” said president of the Denver City Council, Michael Hancock, at the dedication of the statue. “At DEN, we see Mustang as our fierce, blue protector of travelers, guarding our airport. We also see him as a reminder of the wild mustangs that once roamed the west. We feel very lucky to have such an iconic piece of artwork here at DEN,” said DEN Public Art Administrator Sam Weston. At the dedication ceremony, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper spoke of the power and energy of the sculpture. Known for contemporary art, New Mexico artist Luis Jiménez was commissioned in 1993 to create artwork for Denver International Airport. DIA spokesperson Emily Williams said that Jiménez created Mustang to capture Denver’s pioneering western spirit. In 2006, a portion of the statue fell, causing the artist’s death. The statue was completed after his death by studio staff, family and a team of professional lowrider and race-car painters. There were haters After the death of Jiménez, some said the blue horse was cursed, a devil, a demon horse, and the name Blucifer stuck. Others said the horse was creepy, a secret creation of the (then) Oakland Raiders, or an ugly waste of taxpayer money. A facebook group was formed to campaign toward getting rid of it. (The Mustang sculpture was actually paid for by the airport enterprise fund and not by taxpayer money.) Now that more than a decade has passed, objections have gone silent. Mustang regularly undergoes conservation work Conservation work on Mustang is shown here and in photographs below. Mustang’s red eyes are LED, said to be a tribute to the artist’s father who operated a neon shop in New Mexico. Jiménez said they reminded him of his own horses when their eyes glowed at night. I’ll bet those guys are glad they don’t have to trim and shoe those hooves. And conspiracy theories ... Yet others connected the electric blue equine to nefarious and conspiratorial speculations which abound regarding Denver International Airport. The airport itself has embraced the fun side of the conspiracies with an interactive talking gargoyle, cats in tinfoil hats and alien themed artwork. Blucifer later became the name of a cannabis strain, a cross between Conspiracy Kush and Blue Dream. Those who have access may read more about it on leafly. This is your Colorado Open Thread. What is your take on the big blue horse? What’s happening in your part of Colorado? Are you ready for ANOTHER snowstorm that’s supposed to be incoming tomorrow? Yeah. Snow is a four-letter word around here these days. Sources: YouTube — Denver International Airport YouTube — CBS News YouTube — Denver 7 News YouTube — Thrillist, Atlas Obscura Images from Denver International Airport media resources [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/13/2148535/-Happy-Birthday-Mustang-Blucifer-A-Colorado-State-Open-Thread-2-13-23 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/