the
playground
Welcome to The TOMONOSHi! Playground, a captivating newsletter that invites you to explore the wondrous mind of MR. TOMONOSHi! Dive into a world where contemporary art meets playful wonder and uncover a treasure trove of essays and insights that span a wide range of fascinating subjects.
The TOMONOSHi! Playground is a journey into the heart of imagination and innovation. This newsletter offers a unique blend of imaginative research, philosophies, processes, products, places, and play opportunities.
Each edition is crafted with the same love and imagination that defines MR. TOMONOSHi!, providing readers with a rich and immersive learning experience.
Adventure Awaits…
with love + imagination
-MR. TOMONOSHi!
The Archive of Time and Making
You can't see time with your eyes. Even if you're staring at a clock, watching the sun rise and set, or observing leaves falling as the seasons change—time itself remains elusive. You can't grasp it; even in a photograph, time shifts. It is always passing, unstoppable, irretrievable.
Where does time go? Our bodies accumulate it, holding onto it in ways we can never release. We can share time, give time, spend time—but we can never take it back. Time lives within us. The body endures time only until it can endure no longer.
Letter to readers: Dear Black Boy
As a writer and illustrator, it is MY belief that your pen is an extension of who you are, what comes out on the other side is you. For me creating is an act of self discovery.
Something spiritual occurs each time I return from the unmanifested world of my imagination and pour the treasure trove of words, colors, images, and characters that I discovered during this creative journey onto blank sheets of paper.
Coffee with angela
Mid-November 2021
I was having coffee with Angela Davis. As the waves crashed on the rocky shores and the sun began to yawn over the ocean in Punta de Mita, Angela and I, both early risers, enjoyed our intimate time together.
Liberation of the Black imagination
The world we live in today was built by many black hands but under systems developed by the white imagination. These systems—slavery, laws making it illegal for black people to read and write, segregation, discriminatory schools and neighborhoods, lynching, redlining, and more—were all created by the white imagination.
Black AMerican Futurism
Black American Futurism is a philosophy of thought that is rooted in enabling and empowering the Black American imagination. Unlike Afrofuturism, which often focuses on speculative and imaginative futures, Black American Futurism is about both imagining and actively building those futures.
Mr. Tomonoshi!'s Philosophy of Color
Color, as I perceive it, is a profound and intricate language spoken fluently by nature. Nature, in its infinite wisdom, offers a masterclass in the use of color. From the vibrant hues of a sunset to the subtle shades of a forest floor, nature's palette is both diverse and harmonious. No human being can fully encapsulate the theory of color, for no one has witnessed all of nature's color palettes.