Mikhail Loov
- Actor
Mikhail Loov (var. Mihail Loov, Misha Loov, M.S.Loov), b. Leningrad, 1986 -
is the first Russian translator of noir-novelists David Stuart Leslie, Robert Martin, John Creighton; occultist Gavin Greenlees;
poems, journal articles, and diaries by magical realism artists Bridget Tichenor, Remedios Varo, and Dora Maar;
autobiographies of directors Larry Buchanan, Curtis Harrington (*1);
far and away the first translator of Anais Nin, surrealist Alice Rahon, "The Witch of King Cross" Rosaleen Norton, Leonora Carrington, Dragana Bukumirovic;
translator and correspondent of Neville Drewry (*2)
(all translations are 1997-2003, except: (*1) - 2013, (*2) - 2004-2007).
We begin our story in this chronology, and specifically with the translations section. Since Michael considers translations to be more or less the most valuable of all his humorous activities, done more or less without slacking off.
2007-2009 - owner of a vinyl record store.
Graduate of Churchill Royal College of Art (UK, 1998), St. Lawrence Royal College of Fine Arts (UK, 1999 extern), after meeting-interviews with singer Shirley Bassey, actresses Barbara Steele, Hazel Court, philosopher A.M. Pyatigorsky, and writing about their discography, filmography, and bibliography, he interned at Eton College (normal for a descendant of an aristocratic grand-ducal family with centuries of history) and then at Birkbeck College (the future London School of Philosophy).
Since March 2012 Loov have led a truly fantastic life - have never worked anywhere else, never had a penny. However, even in his earlier years he did not consider himself a nobody, did not identify himself with any groups, did not have any precisely defined occupation. He honestly describes all areas of his few personal interests as trivial, and himself as an occasional dilettante.
He despises the Soviet intelligence, their heirs, connoisseurs and connoisseurs of the "film fund", "rave veterans", "shoegaze stars", local autocrats, for whom "Petersburg snobbery is beautiful" and expressed this beauty in a set of insignificant names and surnames.
Officially, Mihail Shakhaimovich Loov does not exist, it is "more profitable not to know him," and honored artists T.L. Nikolskaya (Russian Academy of Sciences) and E.B. Korobova (Hermitage) described him as "a literary scholar with a detached lineage", but in some circles, far from being the last figures in world culture, he has won sincere reverence, Beginning with the Pasadena Foundation for the Artistic Heritage of occultists Marjorie Cameron and Jack Parsons, actresses Meg Myles, Marla English, Marika Green and singer Mina Mazzini, and ending with Aleshkovsky, Gladilin, Kovenatsky, Uflyand and Dyshlenko.
Among other forms of his own distraction, Misha slightly showed himself as a performer of old Russian and foreign pop music of 1900-1970s, sometimes even as a songwriter (for example, all tracks of HLS-Band "Fragments of Seeking" (the name refers to the film by C.Harrington of 1946), except those noted specifically, were written by him). Mihail chooses his favorite repertoire: not the most popular variety from the seemingly familiar artists of the 50-60-s, traditional pop-music of the same era, street folklore (with masters of this particular genre of stagnation times - Alexander Shevalovsky, Konstantin Belyaev, Nikolay Brown-junior, "The Pearl Brothers" (or "Zhemchujnie Brothers Ensemble" , Victor Ilyin, "Forbidden Drummers" (or "Zapreschennie Bararbanschiki"), Fux and many others. Mikhail often recorded in different years).
"Sometimes from nothing to do" (and he has this condition all the time) he writes quiet music "for those who are able to understand the simple man who has it on" - some of the most recent will be heard in the new NTV Network series "Woman Who Can Keep Secrets" (*3), especially for him Misha wrote several compositions.
(*3 - premiere will take place in a week in January 2023).
Winner of the "I Interdisciplinary Award - 2020", awarded with the order "With Gratitude from Mankind!" (declined), "Intellectual Outsiders Magazine Award - 2017" (lost statuette the same night at Rubinstein), ""Star" Magazine Award May 2016" (reassigned to V.G.Petrov). ...and once (I personally saw and remember it) even for fun won in poetry-battle in "The Gribych" (or Griboedov Club) of the distant zero years, replacing the failed to come familiar. Answering the question of the 100TV reporter Mrs. Kokhreidze, who organized a night teleconference from the club, he replied very modestly: "I am here by chance, I am far from literature, especially the unique form that these boys and girls were demonstrating. Absolutely do not know anyone, no one knows me (well, except the chief referee of the tournament - Viktor Leonidivich Toporov, our old friend)".
But these are all just "fragments" that are long in the past. (December 2022) currently, he's a body-positive - enthusiast and methodist of the Women's Crisis Center "Uzda Gimeneya" (on June 24, 2022, TV channel "78" made a program about the Center), located on Rubinstein / Shcherbakov street, where together with Valery Georgievich Petrov and Galina Lvovna Mironova-Drozdetskaya he developed the concept of Liberal national Vegan-Feminism.
Tomorrow is already the first and last public concert, a Christmas tree party for Mikhail Loov and the Ensemble "Fragmenti Nablyudeniy" this year. The star guests of the group will be the O.G. Kuvaitsev's dynasty (saxophone, clarinet) from the Leningrad Dixieland Jazz Band; the venue is also of the highest class - the legendary House of Fashion on Petrogradskaya, which has just opened its doors after a grand restoration, the flagship of our city style since the distant 60s.
(Roman Vyacheslavovich Zamanilov, PhD, December 26, 2022)
(Roman Vyacheslavovich Zamanilov, PhD, December 26, 2022)