Denver International Airport By Lilly Araujo

 

   

Have you ever been to the Denver International Airport?  Did you notice the art work throughout?  If you carefully analyze the art work, such as “The Children of the World Dream of Peace”, created by Leo Tanguma, or look at the airport from an aerial view, you can see the possibility of  influences from the  Holocaust , Nazi Germany and the struggle for world peace ("The Denver International Airport of the New World Order"). What were your feelings towards the massive 32 foot tall, 9,000 pound horse statue, created by Luis Jimenze, housed outside of the airport (Kate Erbland)? Some say the wild horse was built to represent the Denver Broncos, while others believe that it is a sign of the apocalypse. In such case that there is an apocalypse, natural disaster or some event that would wipeout the majority of civilization, some say that huge bunkers, 360,000 square feet located underneath the Denver Airport, are in place for “elites of society” to refuge (Michelle Schenker). The massive bunkers, originally built above ground, but latter buried due to construction in the wrong location, are said to be used for storage. Although this may be true, conspiracy theorist believe that the bunkers were built by the “New World Order” for when the government tries to re-start society (Michelle Schenker). What are your thoughts on these theories? Do you believe any could be true?

 Leo Tanguma, the artist of the murals found in the “Great Hall terminal at [The Denver International Airport]”, is known for his thought provoking art work. Many people question Tanguma’s motives and aesthetic, based on his controversial settings, but Tanguma defends his work by stating “‘A key element found in my work is the struggle for human liberation and democracy,’ he says. ‘This refers to dehumanizing conditions oppressed peoples strive to overcome such as poverty and homelessness in our cities, the destruction of the environment, racism and exploitation, or any unjust conditions.’” (“The Art of Leo Tanguma” Renowned Artist to Speak march 8 at CCA)

The external conflict is that many outsiders that view Tanguma’s work only see the harsh surface of the mural, leading to questions and conspirers to influence others to see only the “bad” in the painting, and not the underlying meaning, struggle, perseverance and moral of the mural. In reality, Tanguma uses murals to “[reflect] a community’s cultural identity and [point] out the cultural beauty of a people” (Christian Social Network). Tanguma sees murals as a “focal [point] depicting social issues in mirror-like reflections of our selves” (Christian Social Network). Although these Murals claim to have peaceful meanings, how was Tanguma’s artwork chosen to be put in the Denver National Airport you may ask?    

While the Denver International Airport was under construction, the public had a hand in deciding the art work that was to go into the airport through community panels, created to incorporate a democratic aspect, that were assembled part by part in result of finding the right artist (Robert Blaskiewicz). Leo Tanguma’s art work is widely known through his contributions to prisons, churches, schools and museums (Christian Social Network) (Interview Leo Tanguma). Inspirations and projects ranging from Houston Texas, Colorado and four other states have spread Tanguma’s name and artwork across the country (Christian Social Network) (Interview: Leo Tanguma). Tanguma’s influential “sermon like” murals and sculptures range from gang violence, human liberation/dignity, protest American intervention in Central America, “Mexican heritage, world history, spirituality, progressive social ideals and personal anecdotes” (Christian Social Network) (Interview: Leo Tanguma). Through Tanguma’s wide spread projects, he influenced the people of the Denver panels so much so as to persuade them to pick his work for the Airport. Though the murals may seem controversial, every mural has a deep and heart wrenching meaning that makes individuals step back and reevaluate social issues. All in all, Leo Tanguma is an inspirational artist that should spread his work and messages around the world, for all to see, regardless if people want to see them or not. 
The Denver International Airport, or otherwise known as DIA, possesses many controversial aspects that could be seen as a plausible concern or just some conspiracy someone camp up with to scare people. The first Controversial topic is over the captivating murals found in “The Great Hall terminal” created by Leo Tanguma. Many who have viewed the murals find them harsh and unsettling. One mural, “The Children of the World Dream of Peace”, contains distressed children and a large Nazi German figure piercing a pure, white dove with a sword, while another, “Peace and Harmony with Nature”, depicts a scene with deceased children and animals, mourning adults, wild animals enclosed in clear cases and forest fires in the background. Individuals who only look at the murals’ surface see the bad in the murals and create embellished ideas of what they think the murals mean rather than what they are intended to mean. The embellished ideas, in result, spread like a wild fire through an already high stress area and lead to more and more theories to come about, such as the questionable layout of the runways.

 

The second conspiracy pertains to the layout of the runways and whether or not it was intended to look like a Swastika sign. The runways protrude out of the airport in a star like shape that look exactly like the German Nazi sign. Many people believe that there is a connection between the Nazi German man in one of the murals, hosted in the airport, and the swastika shape of the runways. Some people claim that there is no way the designers of the runways did not realize the design resembled the Nazi insignia, while others claim that the designers did notice the resemblance and ignored the similarity due to the fact that the shape was the best design for the busy airport. Surprisingly, in a survey I conducted, only three out of twenty believed the design of the runways was intentional, while the reaming seventeen people found that it was just a coincidence. Was it a coincidence or was it intended to continue a Nazi German theme?

 

The third conspiracy about the DIA pertains to the 32 foot tall, 9,000 pound horse statue, created by Luis Jimenze, housed outside of the airport (Kate Erbland). Some claim that the royal blue horse with piercing orange eyes represents the “wild spirit of the old American West” or the fighting Denver Broncos football team, while others believe that the statue is a symbol of an apocalypse or death. The Statue, named Bucifer by the locals, is said to have killed Luis Jimenze, after a large section of the structure fell and severed an artery in his leg, leading locals to believe it is now haunted by the death of his creator (Ella Morton).  Although many petitions have been made for Bucifer’s removal, Bucifer is there to stay and continue to carry on the conspiracy theories of the DIA (Ella Morton).

The fourth conspiracy pertains to the massive bunkers that are found underneath the DIA. In the early stages of construction, five 360,000 sq foot storage units were mysteriously dropped underground due to the storage units being in the wrong location (Michelle Schenker). In most cases, when buildings are built in the wrong place they are simply demolished, but not at the DIA (Michelle Schenker). At the DIA the storage units, or “bunkers”, are conspired to not only be used as storage facilities, but massive safety bunkers for the Elites of the world to shelter from world destruction and later create a “New World Order” (Michelle Schenker).  When asked about the so called storage

facilities, none of the DIA employees deny that they exist; the employees just simply claim that they are used as extra storage space. If the bunkers are simply used as extra storage space, then why do all of the conspiracies claim they are secret bunkers used for refuges to hid from world destruction (Michelle Schenker)? Why were the buildings built in the wrong place? Who is the person that decided to bury the buildings rather than demolish them? Why does no one put an end to these conspiracies?

Over all, though all of the conspiracies can be considered to have some truth, the fourth conspiracy on storage bunkers, is the most realistic and controversial. How is it possible for a professional building company to fully construct five massive buildings in the wrong location and not realize it until the end? Yes, the DIA is a busy airport, but why does it need five 360,000 square foot bunkers for storage? There are many factors that do not add up to make a logical consensus as to why the bunkers were built in the wrong place, buried instead of demolished and intended to hold extensive amounts of extra storage. Along with unexplainable instances pertaining to the “storage facilities”, the government withholds a lot of information from the public, and if there were to  be some life threatening, world destructive occurrence, the bunkers would be a perfect safe house for the chosen elites to take shelter and create a new world. 

Although the Denver International Airport is swarming with conspiracies, 53 million people travel to and from the airport ever year (DEN). The controversial murals found within the airport created by Leo Tanguma, the coincidental similarities between the runways and the Nazi German swastika, the massive demon like mustang statue, created by Luis Jimenze, standing erect outside of the airport, and the mysterious underground “storage units” do not seem to have scared people off from the Denver Airport. The Denver Airport is the 5^th busiest airport in the United States and the 15^th busiest in the world (DEN). Knowing all of the conspiracies and background information about the Denver International Airport, would you be daring enough to be one of the 53 million to travel through Denver?
 

Works Cited

"About DEN." About DEN. City and County of Denver Deparment of Aviation. Web. 3 Dec.       2015. <http://www.flydenver.com/about>. (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary)

Blaskiewiez, Robert. "The Denver International Airport Conspiracy." - CSI. CSI, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/the_denver_international_airport_conspiracy>. (Secondary)

"Denver International Airport Conspiracy: Denver, Colorado." Strange History.org. Web. 24
Sept. 2015. <http://www.strangehistory.org/cms/index.php/popular/77-denver-international-airport-conspiracy-denver-colorado-feature>. (Secondary)

"DIA Murals, Tanguma." The DIA Conspiracy Files. Word Press, 16 May 2009. Web. 3 Dec.
2015. <http://diaconspiracyfiles.com/2009/05/16/dia-murals-tanguma (Primary)

Erbland, Kate. "5 Weird Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Denver International Airport."
Mental Floss. Mental Floss, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Sept. 2015. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/61740/5-weird-conspiracy-theories-surrounding-denver-international-airport>. (Secondary)

  Ericson, Greg, and Steve Snyder. "An Open Letter To The New World Order Denver Airport." An Open Letter To The New World Order Denver Airport. FreePressInternationak. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_denver03.htm>. (Secondary)

"INTERVIEW: Leo Tanguma | Zingmagazine." INTERVIEW: Leo Tanguma | Zingmagazine.
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"Making Public Art More Public." In Peace and Harmony with Nature. Public Art Archive. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://www.publicartarchive.org/work/peace-and-harmony-nature>. (Secondary)

"More Murals by Leo Tanguma." The DIA Conspiracy Files. The DIA Conspiracy Files, 12 May 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <http://diaconspiracyfiles.com/2009/05/12/more-murals-by-leo-tanguma/>. (Secondary)

Morton, Ella. "Beware of Blucifer, the Demon Horse of Denver Airport." Slate.com. The Slate Group. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.<http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/03/17/the_blue_mustang_is_part_of_several_conspiracy_theories_centered_on_denver.html (Secondary)

  "Mysterious Murals and Monuments at the Denver Airport." Extraordinary Intelligence.
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Schenker, Michelle. "Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Denver Airport." Exploring Lifes
Mysteries. Cover Story Media, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <http://www.exploringlifesmysteries.com/denver-international-airport-conspiracy/>. (Secondary)

Tenguna, Leo. "Leo Tanguma." Christian Social Network Ministry. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.christiansocialnetwork.net/leo-tanguma.html>. (Primary)

""The Art of Leo Tanguma"" Renowned Artist to Speak March 8 at CCA." "The Art of Leo
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"The Children of the World Dream of Peace | Mural Locator." Mural Locator. Mural Locator, 6 Sept. 2010. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <http://murallocator.org/2010/09/the-children-of-the-world-dream-of-peace/>. (Secondary)

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