Mark Lombardi, fallen artist of the conspiracy-obsessed

Next time my bizniz takes me to San Francisco I’m going to make a pilgrimage to see the works

of



Mark Lombardi, the self-murdered artist/martyr of the conspiracy-obsessed.

I only recently learned of Lombardi’s work. Evidently he had been a minor artist with a small cult following until September 11, and since then he’s become, so far as I can tell, a minor artist with a large, fanatical and growing cult following.

His preoccupations closely parrallel mine– we both subscribe to Ishmael Reed’s notion that history is the story of warfare among secret societies. But whereas I tend to think obsessively about technology and write stories, Lombardi thought obsessively about money and power and drew pictures.

I should point out that when I say “minor artist” I mean no slight. This fellow’s work absolutely captivates me, and if I don’t manage to see it in San Francisco I’ll drive to Iowa, if I have to, to see it in person.

The rest of the story contains several more links and a brief story about my own brief correspondence with a real conspiracy-theory wacko.

A few years ago, when I was spending a lot more time than I now do in surfing the net trying to find people to help me publicise Acts of the Apostles, I came upon the

website of one Uri Dowbenko. I particularly liked the motto of his



Steamshovel Press site: “All Conspiracy. No theory.” I took him to be a man with a sense of humor.

Moreover, I absolutely adored the review that he had written of the movie “Hannibal”, which he correctly desecribed as seductive moral filth. (I’m too lazy to try to find that review right now; sorry.). I exchanged a few emails with the guy, and we were tentatively discussing an arrangement in which he would promote and sell my books, for a cut.

But then he published a piece on his website that seemed to have anti-semitic overtones. I wasn’t even sure, but I wrote him to ask him what he meant and if he was aware of the vibe connoted in his words.

HIs response was odd but seemed to imply that I of course believed that “the Jews” were part of the Big Conspiracy to Control Everything. I don’t even think the word “Jew” was even used; it was just codespeak if I recall, but it was a revelatory moment. It was kind of a cold-water shock to realize that maybe this particular conspiracy theorist, whom I had taken to be sane because he was quite intelligent, was actually quite possibly nuts.

So that was the end of that particular correspondence. It’s been a while–years–since I visited either SteamShovel Press or Conspiracy Planet, and I’m not sure how to think about them. Because certainly some of what they say and promote is obnoxious. But a lot of what they say is true, and largely suppressed by mainstream media. So to that extent they provide a very valuable service to our threatened democracy.

More stories about Lombardi

11211 magazine

artnet

Village Voice