David Lester's Blog, page 4
April 1, 2011
October 22, 2010
THE LISTENER graphic novel out in spring, 2011
THE LISTENER reveals one of the world's most tragic acts of spin doctoring while weaving a compelling tale of complacency, art, power, and murder. It is a startling little-known story that changed the course of history. In THE LISTENER, two stories collide: the rise of Hitler and a woman artist searching for meaning in the art of Europe.
Spin doctoring didn't start with "weapons of mass destruction" to justify an invasion of Iraq. No, one of the original spin doctors was Adolf Hitler, who turned a narrow electoral win into a "massive victory" that paved the way to power and world war. THE LISTENER contrasts the true story of a 1933 election with the fiction of a political death in 2010.
1933: In a small, snowy, sleepy German state, the last democratic election is about to take place before a failed artist named Hitler seizes power. The election is Hitler's final chance to manipulate events that will lead to the death of millions. How did this happen?
2010: A man falls to his death during a political act inspired by a work of art. The woman who created the art flees to Europe to escape her guilt over the death. A chance meeting results in the artist discovering the true story of the 1933 election. The past becomes pivotal as the artist decides the course of her future.
If you liked Joe Sacco's Footnotes In Gaza; Jason Lutes' Berlin books; Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis; Art Spiegelman's Maus; Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919; or Ari Folman's film Waltz with Bashir, then you'll be interested in checking out THE LISTENER.
THE LISTENER on WORDPRESS:
http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpr...
THE LISTENER on FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lis...
My publisher: Arbeiter Ring Publishing
September 18, 2010
September 17, 2010
What is THE LISTENER graphic novel about?
THE LISTENER reveals one of the world's most tragic acts of spin doctoring while weaving a compelling tale of complacency, art, power, and murder. It is a startling little-known story that changed the course of history. In THE LISTENER, two stories collide: the rise of Hitler and a woman artist searching for meaning in the great art of Europe.
Spin doctoring didn't start with "weapons of mass destruction" to justify an invasion of Iraq. No, one of the original spin doctors was Adolf Hitler, who turned a narrow electoral win into a "massive victory" that paved the way to power and world war. If you liked Joe Sacco's Footnotes In Gaza; Jason Lutes' Berlin books; Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis; Art Spiegelman's Maus; Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919; or Ari Folman's film Waltz with Bashir, then you'll love THE LISTENER.
THE LISTENER by David Lester contrasts the true story of a 1933 election with the fiction of a political death in 2010.
1933: In a small, snowy, sleepy German state, the last democratic election is about to take place before a failed artist named Hitler seizes power. The election is Hitler's final chance to manipulate events that will lead to the death of millions. How did this happen?
2010: A man falls to his death during a political act inspired by a work of art. The woman who created the art flees to Europe to escape her guilt over the death. A chance meeting results in the artist discovering the true story of the 1933 election. The past becomes pivotal as the artist decides the course of her future.
THE LISTENER is a 304-page graphic novel by David Lester that will be published by Arbeiter Ring Publishers in the spring of 2011. http://arbeiterring.com/
Author bio in 25 images
Inspired Agitators poster of Howard Zinn by David Lester, 2010. Part of an on-going poster series that includes includes John Heartfield, Lucy Parsons, Emily Wilding Davison, Phil Ochs, Red Cloud, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nellie McClung, Tommy Douglas, and Paul Robeson.
"Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love" poster design by David Lester, 1991. A production by Touchstone Theatre and written by Brad Fraser. The play was controversial for its violence, nudity, frank dialogue, and sexual explicitness. But it was quickly acclaimed by critics and audiences and was named one of the 10 best plays of the year by Time Magazine.
"Actually I like crap." t-shirt design by David Lester, 2002.
Anarchy In Canada? poster by David Lester, 1978
Artists Against Apartheid poster by David Lester, 1987. The event raised enough money to buy a mobile health unit to assist those injured during demonstrations in South Africa. The concert was sponsored by Oxfam Canada.
BC BookWorld cover design by David Lester, 2009. I've designed the newspaper for over 20 years and continue to do so. BC BookWorld is the largest circulation literary publication in Canada.
David Lester, 2009
Don't Turn Yer Back On Desperate Times, DOA album cover design by David Lester, 1984. The record was a live recording from a John Peel Session by DOA. Part of the proceeds from record sales went to benefit striking coal miners in the United Kingdom.
David Lester, playing kazoo, Pigeon Park, Vancouver, 1969. This was part of a weekly event organized by Vancouver's official Town Fool in Canada's poorest neighbourhood.
Emma Goldman poster by David Lester, 1977. This poster of the anarchist / feminist Emma Goldman was part of a series of centrespreads in the Open Road newsjournal.
David Lester, Hyde Park anti-nuclear weapons march, London, 1979. There were about 80,000 people taking part. A memorable moment was marching into Trafalgar Square just as the Gang of Four (on a flat bed truck) played ArmaLite Rifles.
Free The Five poster by David Lester, 1983. A benefit concert featuring the Dead Kennedys.
David Lester, Mecca Normal, 2010
The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism, book by David Lester, 2005/2006. All author royalties are donated to The Canadian Centre for the Victims of Torture. The book has been re-printed in a revised second edition. It has also been used as a course text at Capilano University (English: Studies in Contemporary Literature). The excellent cover design is by Mike Carroll.
David Lester, Mecca Normal, 2010
Hard Core Logo book cover design by David Lester, 1993. I recently re-designed the logo for a mounting of the book as a stage play to premier in 2011.
David Lester with knife and guitar, Mecca Normal, 2010. Performing with MECCA NORMAL at the opening of "The Black Dot Museum of Political Art" exhibit at Northern Gallery.
"How Art & Music Can Change the World" lecture/multi media presentation by Mecca Normal, Evergreen State College, Olympia, 2009. We have presented this event at colleges, universities, bookstores, festivals, and art galleries. Contact me if you would like us to present it in your area.
Mecca Normal, Black Dot Museum Art opening, Olympia, 2010. Mecca Normal (Jean Smith, David Lester) began in 1984. We have released 13 albums (K Records, Matador, Kill Rock Stars). Mecca Normal has played shows with Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Mirah, The Ex, Bikini Kill, The Fall, Sleater Kinney and Kimya Dawson to name a few. A 7" single on K Records is due out late 2010. The single features a song called "Malachi", about the late Chicago anti-war activist.
Magnet Magazine series, painting by David Lester, 2009. Jean Smith and I began this weekly series in 2009. Jean's prose covers a wide selection of topics, and includes sections from her upcoming novel. The series is ongoing.
This is a page from my 304-page graphic novel THE LISTENER. The book will be published by Arbeiter Ring in spring of 2011. THE LISTENER reveals one of the world's most tragic acts of spin doctoring while weaving a compelling tale of complacency, art, power, and murder. It is a startling little-known story that changed the course of history. In THE LISTENER, two stories collide: the rise of Hitler and a woman artist searching for meaning in the great art of Europe.
Mecca Normal performance at the Vancouver Art Gallery, 2009. Surrounded by Jack Shadbolt paintings we performed at an event called FUSE which attracts thousands of people to a variety of performances all over the gallery.
The Politics Are Not Obvious, painting by David Lester, 2003. I really like this description of the painting by Michael Kramer, a Lecturer in History and American Studies at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois): "Here, politics are 'not obvious.' Instead, they are something at once more humble and more profound: they are all about self-expression, the heavens, and the individual in relation to the rest of the world. They are about one person 'getting' another person and conveying that communication on paper. They are about a clawhammer style half-mastered, a shadow of blue or gray sketched just right, a hopeful clang of strings, a person sitting in front of another person, the brushing of a banjo, a painting acknowledging the passage of sound. Politics become about instruments passed across the generations through mass production and consumption, yet reclaimed; instruments turned anti-instrumental. They are about things and sounds and images translated back and forth from bodies to feelings to representations — a circle broken and fixed again, a circle unbroken. They are all very quiet and hushed — 'not obvious' — and then you look and the brushed hand begins to roll into a pulsation."
"The Number 14" theatre poster design by David Lester, 1992. This is one of Touchstone Theatre's most successful plays, winning numerous awards and presented internationally.
Aside from MECCA NORMAL, I also play in HORDE OF TWO, an experimental guitar/bass duo with Wendy Atkinson. Horde of Two have released one album, "Guitar & Bass Actions" and performed at the Olympia Experimental Music Festival, 2010. Their a 10-minute instrumental song called "IWW: The Lynching of Wesley Everest" will come out on a comp CD called "In The Orchard Of Osiris" ( Takes A Village To Make Records) in 2010.
September 13, 2010
Who is David Lester?
David Lester is a painter, graphic designer, cartoonist, and the guitarist in the rock duo Mecca Normal. His book, The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism went into a revised second printing and has been required reading in a university English course called Studies in Contemporary Literature. He has created the poster series "Inspired Agitators," archived at The Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, and designed the popular t-shirt "Actually, I like crap." Lester also does a weekly illustration, with text by Mecca Normal bandmate Jean Smith, for Magnet Magazine. His comics were published in DrippyTown #4 and Warburger (Slovenia). As well, his cartoons appeared regularly for a year in the San Diego Reader. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.
To contact David Lester / Mecca Normal in regards to book events, art gallery exhibits / performances or media requests, please email: davidlester735@hotmail.com
