LODOVE

ANDREA

His professions are designer, writer, photographer, artist, and creative director (not in any order). He has spent his life between Rome, Milan, Boston, Barcelona, New Orleans, San Francisco and Mexico City.

He has exhibited his fine art at Basel, been published in Vogue, built international brands across verticals, played the trumpet across the North Bridge in The Patriot’s Day Parade, learned Kung Fu from Shaolin monks, and was for years a member of Distrikt’s Alpha Team at Burning Man.

This is his third book, his first novel, and a growing practice.

Andrea Lodove is his name.

He is.

INTERVIEW

  • SORT OF. I STARTED BY TRANSLATING THE LANGUAGES THAT WERE CARVED ONTO THESE STONES I FOUND UNDER THE STEPS OF ROME. I DID THE BEST I COULD TO EXPRESS THEIR POETIC NATURE. SOMETHING ALWAYS GETS LOST IN TRANSLATION, BUT SOMETHING IS ALSO GAINED.

  • I HAD TO. ONCE I READ THE STONES I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF. ALL MY PROJECTS COME FROM INSIDE ME. I DON’T KNOW WHY. I JUST HAVE A NEED THAT OVERCOMES EVERYTHING ELSE. I CAN’T CONTAIN IT. IT POURS OUT AND I TRY TO CAPTURE IT AS QUICKLY AS I CAN.

  • I DON’T KNOW. THEY WERE TAKEN BY THE AUTHORITIES ONCE THEY HEARD WHAT I HAD FOUND. I BARELY HAD TIME TO TRANSLATE THEM AND THEY WERE GONE.

  • NOT REALLY. THEY ASKED ME WHERE I HAD FOUND THEM AND WANTED TO KNOW WHAT I HAD BEEN DOING. I EXPLAINED IT WAS PURE CHANCE. I STUMBLED ON THEM WHILE EATING A PICNIC NEAR THE ROMAN WALLS.

  • ONE MORNING I BEGAN TRANSLATING THE FIRST 2–3 PARAGRAPHS OF THE BOOK. A FRIEND CALLED ME THAT SAME DAY AND LEFT A MESSAGE. SHE ALWAYS HAS THESE INCREDIBLE DREAMS. WHEN I CHECKED THE MESSAGE LATER ON, SHE SAID SHE DREAMED OF ME. TO KEEP THE STORY SHORT, SHE SAID I HAD TO PULL THE BOOK OUT OF THE ROCK… THAT WAS ALL THE VALIDATION I NEEDED.

  • THERE’S THIS ROCK. HE’S IN LOVE WITH THE SUNRISE. BUT HE CAN’T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT WITNESS HER. HE HAS NO ARMS OR LEGS TO GET AROUND AND REACH HER, ALL HE CAN DO IS SURRENDER TO HIS CIRCUMSTANCES. SO HE DEVELOPS A VERY INTENSE, INTERNALIZED RELATIONSHIP WITH LIFE, ONE WHERE HE SLOWS DOWN AND NOTICES ALL THESE OTHER THINGS. IT’S AN ADVENTURE TOLD WITH A PERSPECTIVE WE CANNOT GRASP AS HUMANS. WE DON’T LIVE LONG ENOUGH. BUT THE ROCK DOES.