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Outer space and life beyond our planet are some of the biggest unknowns that surround the existence of human beings. Both generate a curiosity for the unknown that awakens an inexplicable attraction in society and that is reflected in the figure of Anthony Loffredo, the man known as the Black Alien. A 35-year-old Frenchman who has completely altered his physical appearance with tattoos, implants and amputations to transform himself into what he imagines as an alien, thus creating a project that has led him to have more than one million followers on Instagram and to invest more than $ 40,000 in his modifications.
QUESTION: How did you get started with the Black Alien project?
A: I started when I was 26 years old, but it's something I had in my head since I was little. I wondered many things about life, how aliens really exist. This was a topic that fascinated me because I couldn't believe that there were only humans in the world.
Q: Do you consider yourself an alien?
A: No, what I feel is that my soul is not connected to my body. This is a project that goes beyond the physical, which is based on very deep thoughts related to the existence of humans. Our presence in the world is very mysterious to me.
Q: Your soul is not connected to your body...
A: I feel that way because, from a very young age, I looked at my body, my hands... And I wondered if I was really in this body, because it seemed to me that it was not mine. It was something I thought about every day, that wouldn't let me sleep.
Q: Despite this you started very late...
A: To do something like that you need a minimum of maturity, you can't do it crazy.
Q: What is this project based on?
R. This project is based on the image I have in my head of what an alien would be like. So I have created a percentage system, to establish a process of evolution. Everything I do in my body makes the percentage go up, until it is completed the moment I get the image I have in my head.
Q: What's the first thing you did to yourself?
A: The tongue, even before I get tattooed.
Q: And then?
A: It was all very often. First the tongue, then tattoos, implants in the head and arms, more tattoos and amputations in the mouth, nose, ears and hands... Until I get the look I currently look like.
Q: How do amputations affect you?
A: The truth is that it doesn't affect me at all. I breathe and hear normal and absolutely nothing hurts. The only thing is that my snot falls out a little (he explains while laughing).
Q: Seeing you in person, scars impress me more than your tattoos, how do you do that?
A: That is something that has been done since ancient times. It consists of removing the skin from the body and forming a scar. It's what has hurt me the most of all.
Q: What are the next steps for this project?
A: Well, I want to remove the fingers of the other hand, I want to do the leg...
Q: The leg?
A: I want to cut my leg and put on biomechanics. I know it's crazy, but it's my goal. There are people without legs who are stronger and healthier than you and me. It's all mental.
Q: You take everything to the mental, don't you?
A: It's your mind that drives you. If you want to be strong, you're going to be strong, whether you have a leg or not, because your mind wants it that way.
Black AlienAngel NavarreteE.M.
Q: Who operates on you?
A: People who are willing to do it, because my operations are illegal all over the world.
Q: Aren't you afraid they don't know what they're doing?
A: Look, there are people who do cosmetic operations in very expensive clinics and end up dying or with complications. Of course something could happen to me, but like to anyone. That's why I'm not afraid of anything.
Q: And how are the postoperative periods?
A: It's a bit hard, but it's not a problem. The worst thing that can happen is that an implant is rejected or infected, which can lead to a health problem.
Q: Do you think you may ever regret it?
A: That is impossible. When I am 60 years old I will be able to look in the mirror proud of what I have achieved, with the satisfaction of knowing that I can die in peace because I have fulfilled my goal in life.
Q: Would you be willing to die for the project?
A: I am ready to die for him. It would be a happy death for me.
Q: Is it your only passion?
A: No, I also love painting. Abstract art is something that fascinates me from a very young age and, although I left it for a while, I am now returning to painting to mount my own exhibition.
Q: You know it's going to be a success just because you're the alien, right?
A: Not bad, is it? (Laughter)
Q: That's one of the things that being the alien influences your life... why else does it do it?
A: It has good and bad things. It allows me to live from it, meet many people, start many projects, travel..., but I also suffer many problems of discrimination and lack of respect.
Q: Does it influence when it comes to finding a partner?
A: When a person relates to me it's because I'm Anthony, not because I'm the alien. Obviously the first thing they see of me is how I look, but in two minutes you forget it.
Q: That's exactly what happened to me...
A: That's what I'm telling you. You can see me without a nose, without ears... and hallucinate. But in the end it's something that doesn't matter, because the most important thing is what you convey to people.
Q: So, do you have a facility to flirt?
A: There are many curious girls who see in me a way to experiment, but there are also those who want to know me better and know why I do what I do.
Black AlienAngel NavarreteE.M.
Q: You could have a great future in the world of porn...
A: They would have to pay me a lot of money to get me in there. I've been offered it many times, but for me that's too easy money. I don't want that.
Q: But I understand that you want to cut your penis in two, don't you?
A: Yes, it's another one of my projects. The intention is to leave it with two ends as I have my tongue. It works the same.
Q: What would have become of you if you weren't the alien?
A: (Laughs and prepares to answer) I don't know, because Anthony was destined to become the alien. Sometimes I wonder why me, but it's kind of useless. What I must do is accept my destiny, of which I feel very fortunate, and move on.
Q: Are you happy?
A: Absolutely. I do what I want, not afraid of how people will judge me. I am free and I believe that happiness depends on that, on freedom.
Q: What do you think about life?
A: Poof, it's kind of brutal. I can't find words to define it. Life is what has made me feel like this and I don't understand why. But I don't really understand anything. I look at the sky, at the people... And I wonder how there can be so many beautiful things. Sometimes I like to sit in a park and watch people, observe how they relate to each other. I am fascinated by humans and the journey they have had to reach the moment in which they are.
Q: You are in love with life...
A: Yes and every day more, because I understand it less.
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