Photo by Rebecca Holt

Every school year students from all over DPS, from kindergarten to twelfth grade, get the chance to be part of the DPS Safety and Health Calendar Art Contest. Each year one of TJ’s art teachers Brooke Stoyer has hopes that one of her very own students will get his or her drawings picked to be part of the next school year’s safety and health calendar. For the 2010-2011 Safety and Health Calendar, Daniel Mardirosian won the Slip and Fall Prevention II for the month of January.

“I was really happy when I found out I won the contest,” said Mardirosian. “I have never won this contest before so I was happy to finally be acknowledged.” This is Mardirsian’s third year entering his artwork and each year he hopes to win and be able to see his work in the calendar. “I have tried different themes each year. Last year I entered in for the fire safety drawing and did a different slip and fall prevention theme,” said Mardirosian, but his drawings were not chosen.

Every year in Stoyer’s art class Danny works hard on his drawings and hopes for a chance to win. “I was really relieved and proud of Danny when I found out he won because he didn’t win the bookmark contest this year,” said Stoyer smiling. “I really like that he really has his heart set on drawing.”

This has been the first time that someone from TJ has won the calendar contest in two years. “A couple of years ago I had a student exchange student from Columbia who won the Safety Calendar Contest,” said Stoyer.

This isn’t the first art contest that Daniel has won here at TJ. He enters in the bookmark contest for Denver public libraries and wins almost every year, except this year, when he got noteworthy on his bookmark.

Mardirsian doesn’t enter his artwork in the contests for fun; he considers drawing a passion of his. “After high school I plan on going to college for drawing as a major, because I really enjoy drawing,” says Mardirsian.

Mardirsian is happy to finally get recognized ed and to see his art work selected for the calendar next school year.

Artwork by Mia Nogueira

Upon entering the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s new exhibit, The Story of the Heart, I felt gross.

Grossly intrigued, grossly fascinated, and grossly grossed out.

Needless to say, the exhibit caught my attention immediately, not only because it had detailed explanations on cardiology, anatomy, and how the heart nourishes and regulates the human body, but also because of the exhibit’s artistic displays of human cadavers in action. Plus, the bodies on display are real, adding to the exhibit’s impact on my intellect, and my stomach.

Body Worlds consists primarily of two types of displays: Plastinates and body slices. Plastinates, the processed and poised human bodies, tend to be the main attraction of the exhibit. These anatomically mind-blowing works of art are created through the process of Plastination, a method of hampering decomposition invented in 1977 by anatomist Gunter von Hagens. The process involves the removal of all fluid and fat from the cadaver, and replacing them with rubber-like material called elastomers. This allows the plastinated body to be sculpted into various positions, keeping them in a rigid stance before they are put on display.

The first Plastinate seen on display is titled “Archer”. This simple yet intriguing sculpture portrays a man, kneeling on a platform, wielding a taut bow and arrow. Besides the Plastinate is a brief description of the muscles at work within the display, along with a diagram of the archer, fully labeled with muscles and tendons. While the man was artfully modeled, I found the information that accompanied the art to be just as fully accomplished. The description of the Plastinate included what the sculpture depicted, how anatomy helped the Plastinate achieve this task, and how the task the Plastinate was performing was related to the heart. All this information was brief and concise, while remaining fascinating and complete. This made the entire exhibit seem much more legitimate, instead of simply relying on the shock-value of having human bodies used for art.

The other Plastinates in the exhibit were similar to “Archer” in their in-depth descriptions and artful positioning. There were Plastinates figure skating, multiple Plastinates doing contortion gymnastics, and even Plastinates playing ice hockey. However, easily the most fascinating of these anatomical works of art was a display of two Plastinates, both leaning towards one another with their arms outstretched. The aspect of this sculpture that set it apart from all other displays in exhibit was the fact that the Plastinate’s organs, instead of being kept within the body, were protruding from their backs, forming an elegant heart shape around the two bodies.

This breathtaking exhibition of two human bodies was absorbing, enchanting, and insanely weird. The sight of someone’s organs surrounding the body they came from is – while slightly sickening – very thought provoking. It truly showed what humans are made of, and how complicated one human body is. It was like looking at the Mona Lisa, broken down into a jigsaw puzzle.

Alongside the many Plastinates were numerous display cases containing human organs and body slices, which are translucent cuttings of human organs preserved by Plastination. These display cases, while certainly not the main attraction of the exhibit, were very informative, and ultimately gave a brilliant illustration of the workings of human organs and their relationship with the heart. Probably the most informative and interesting display case was one containing various slices of the heart and its chambers.

Since its first exhibition, Body Worlds has been relatively controversial simply because of its use of deceased human bodies for educational and artistic purposes. However, one segment of the exhibit remains to be the most provocative, and that is the use of deceased fetuses and embryos. This section, separated from the rest of the exhibit by curtains to allow viewer discretion, contains a series of fetuses in different stages of development, along with a detailed description of the prenatal growth process. While there is obvious scientific value to the display, it remains to be slightly sickening. Simply the concept of this exhibition of early human life is enough to get some people queasy. Actually witnessing it is, to be frank, enough to make the viewer sick to the stomach. While I do not condemn this highly controversial section of the exhibit ethically, I do recommend serious consideration and judgment before entering this neck of the woods.

Ultimately, Body Worlds is a mixed encounter. It’s thought provoking, emotionally stimulating, and sometimes simply disgusting. But then again, this makes the exhibit the type of experience that doesn’t leave the attendees as they leave the room. Like the human body, the exhibit is complex, and doesn’t have the intention of being fully comprehended the first time around. Using intricate displays, detailed summaries, and of course, real human bodies, the Story of the Heart effectively captures the mind and the heart of all who attend.

The exhibit is open through July 18, 2010, and is open from 9:00am-5:00pm on Sunday through Wednesday, and 9:00am-9:00pm on Thursday through Saturday. Student tickets cost $16.

Artwork by Rebecca Holt

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science was remodeling a section of the museum right after the Nature Unleashed exhibition, and finished just in time for the opening of Genghis Khan. Genghis Kahn ruled over a powerful empire with his strong military force and legendary leadership, and this exhibit includes many historic items and interactive elements for attendees.

Genghis Khan grew up in poor conditions. His family was poor, but he believed he was destined for greatness. Eventually he gathered a small band of warriors. Khan continued to add other nomadic warriors to his group, and recruited all of the roaming pillagers and added them to his army. Khan used spies in cities to learn the roads and learn about the people years, sometimes decades, before he attacked. When he took siege of cities, he disposed of everyone except the scientists, engineers, and the best fighters. When fighters were recruited from a city, they were placed in armies very distant from each other to prevent any conspiracies. This strategy helped Khan’s army, and led the way for explosive fighting tactics and advanced weaponry through metalworking. The army had specially designed bows that could fire arrows over long distances with minimal physical effort, and built powerful siege machines.

Genghis Khan’s empire grew to be four times greater than that of Alexander the Great. He used effective fighting tactics, many of which are found in the sixth century text, Art of War by Sun Tzu. Khan would do whatever he had to do to win. A few cities were conquered without battles, and the enemy surrendered out of fear, but the battles they did fight were intense. The Mongol army was commanded by flags and whistling arrows. The whistling arrows signaled attacks and changes in the middle of a battle when flags wouldn’t be visible. The main battle tactics involved firing arrows and rotating groups of light and heavily armed cavalry in attacks. Their first strike was firing arrows to intimidate the enemy. Then, light-armed cavalry came in from different directions and rotated in different groups. Later came heavy cavalry equipped with lots of armor and strong weapons to clear out the battlefield. “Compared to golf, it’s like watching a hockey game. It was a blitzkrieg type of attack,” said Michael Hitchcock, a museum staff member. However, Genghis Khan never went into battle if he was uncertain of a win.

In the exhibit are ancient items from the 12th-13th centuries during Genghis Khan’s rule. Silk clothes, jackets and tools are simply amazing to see. One of the unique artifacts is the metal passports that were given to certain noblemen, which guaranteed safe passage through the Mongol kingdom. A ger (a soldier’s home that was easily dismantled and transported), is displayed, along with decorative cases that Mongols used to carry supplies when they were on the move. There were many artifacts like saddles, stirrups, and bridle bits in the exhibit. Horses were a large part of Mongolian culture. In most cases, the Mongolian army was horse cavalry. Also, horses were crafted into their art and musical instruments. The Morin Khuur (horse-head fiddle) was an instrument made with hairs from horsetails and the end of the neck is endowed with a handmade horse’s head. There is a traditional dancer that wears ceremonial garb and a Morin Khuur player that perform during part of the exhibit. Some aspects of Mongolian culture, like carrying collapsible homes and circling the enemy in a fight, are shared with Native Americans.

The Genghis Khan exhibit also has a new interactive aspect. As someone enters the museum, they are handed a pamphlet and a slip of paper that has a specific name on it. At various parts of the exhibit, there are computers where people select the name of the person that is on their paper. Theses terminals tell the story of the life of someone involved with Genghis Khan in the twelfth century. The word “Horde” originated from the Mongolian word, “orda” which means “The Khan’s residence”

The Genghis Khan Exhibit will be at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science until February 7th, 2010, and a student ticket costs $13. The exhibit opends at 9:15 am and closes at four o’clock in the afternoon.

    Thanks to TJ’s ceramics teacher, Catherine Salazar, Spartan artists were allowed to display their artwork during the Day of the Dead art show at the CHAC. The students who participated in this display helped win the recognition of “Best in Show for the Day of the Dead." This is a very prestigious award that is only given to artists with new and creative ideas. “This year’s gallery was amazing; these students really deserved to be featured,” said Cristal O’Bryan, the arts and display coordinator at CHAC.

    The CHAC gallery is very exclusive about the art featured there, and only open their doors to these student-based galleries a couple times per year. The TJ students who had artwork displayed this year were Echoe Dayton, Dani Ruzycki, Melanie Walker, Tra’e Griffin, Katie Boyer, Karla Garcia, Jeanna Tomlin, Ian Melnicoe, Emily Ferren, Jessica Smith, Stephanie Lain, Christy Tafoya, Shelby Randall,  Lydia Aman, Shane Brown, Sean Reifman, Kira Rodriguez, Maria Sanchez, Kaily Blackburn, Hall Hupperts, Justin VanNostrand, Chelane Obland, Ben Makovsky, and Jeanna Tomlin. Sam Stavish, Ruyi Du, and Patrick Taylor were also featured in this gallery, each with two or more pieces of art being showcased. The remarkable art won these students the “Best in Show” title.

     “Students are the future of art, and we need them to preserve the art of all cultures,” said O’Bryan. The student and open shows help keep people interested in art, and encourage the future artist from TJ. “I really want to keep seeing these students in future exhibits, and I hope next year they come with more amazing artwork,” added O’Bryan.