Toto Tvalavadze

I’m Toto, and this is ttvl.co; My public notebook of making and wandering curiosities.

I’m a photographer, bookbinder, walker, and human-computer interface researcher, small gallery curator, among other smaller things.

The mission of this project is to share knowledge and inspire people to pursue their passions. I document my findings, research, and insights collected on my journey to becoming a fine art photographer and human-computer interaction researcher who values craft and human creation.

If you like what I do, consider subscribing to my newsletter about my work, photography, books, making, and walking.

Desert landscape with scattered rocks and handwritten text reading IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS MUST BE FOLLOWED ABSOLUTELY AND LOGICALLY, quote by Sol LeWitt

Philosophy

There are a few guiding principles I aim to live by and reflect in everything I create:

Follow Irrational Thoughts

We are mystics, not rationalists. Art, like marathon running, is an irrational, useless endeavor. But we expend the enormous energy art demands anyway. Because through our efforts, we expand our threshold for the human spirit. This is what distinguishes us from the cows in the field.

The passage above is drawn from the short film Paradox Bullets by Tom Sachs, which reflects on Sol LeWitt’s renowned quote, narrated by Werner Herzog. It is said that the whimsical reference to cows in a field was an impromptu addition by Herzog himself.

Made for Humans

Hands are extraordinary, and their ingenuity is among the clearest markers of what it means to be human. They sculpt, write, design, build; they are the conduits through which imagination becomes form. Yet, modern technology has largely relegated them to repetitive tapping on glass, an interface that betrays their true potential.

Design tools and systems with the human body in mind—tools that respond to the complexity of touch, motion, and thought.

Local First

Every project has a landscape, and that landscape is local. It could be the neighborhood around Jinny Street Gallery, where the pace of life is marked by the pulse of a community, or a zine produced in a print shop that smells of ink and paper, just a short walk from home.

Build here, now, with the people you can see eyes of. The result is work that carries the texture of a place, the unmistakable scent of belonging.

Two speakers (Lorenzo and Toto) presenting at event with colorful mural backdrop, projected slides showing “MICHIBIKI” and building photo, audience silhouettes visible (photo by Brian Scott Peterson)

Press & Appearances

Lorenzo (right) and I (left) at PeckaKucha Tokyo. (ph. Brian Scott Peterson)

Speaking

Video

Print