Intelligent Mischief

Intelligent Mischief, co-founded in 2013 by Terry Marshall and Aisha Shillingford, is a creative studio and design lab unleashing Black imagination to shape the future. Intelligent Mischief boosts invention and innovation, realigns action logic, and experiments with new forms of culture and civil society to create atmospheres of change. Intelligent Mischief creates original multi-platform story worlds, experiences and ephemera, and engages Black people in imagination workshops and hackathons.

In their creative studio Intelligent Mischief creates multi-platform story worlds, ephemera, art, and experiences that invite Black folks to immerse themselves in alternative realities based on Black Utopias. In their design lab, Intelligent Mischief works with Black-led collectives, organizations, neighborhoods, communities, cities and governments to collectively imagine and design their futures as Black utopias and liberated zones. Ultimately, Intelligent Mischief unleashes Black imagination to shape the future.

City

Brooklyn

Country

United States

Region

N. America

Year of Creation

2013

Featured Project

for Black folks who have considered governance…

“for Black folks who have considered governance…,” published in October 2023, is Intelligent Mischief’s independent zine publication. for Black folks who have considered governance… explores the possibilities that can from healing generational trauma and reimagining the concept of “governance” through love, ancestral knowledge, and collective transformation in a multiracial democracy.

for Black folks who have considered governance…

Resources

Chapdelaine, Josh and Jamie Cohen. “Aisha Shillingford & Terry Marshall ‘Intelligent Mischief’.” The Digital Void Podcast. Acast, 1 Feb. 2021, https://shows.acast.com/digital-void-podcast/episodes/aisha-shillingford-terry-marshall-intelligent-mischief.

“[Episode] #17 Intelligent Mischief & Creating a Culture of Black Liberation.” Uploaded by The Center for Artistic Activism to YouTube, 2 Jan. 2018, https://youtu.be/0UuVxhniuQc?si=o-Cu7Q0pGu-Q84Rl.

“[Episode] #177: Intelligent Mischief: Shaping Black Futures.” Uploaded by Edible Activist to YouTube, 4 Aug. 2025, https://youtu.be/ziDWfBmz3Cg?si=PuvEMPpqifYtRaEE.

“Intelligent Mischief.” Allied Media Projects, https://alliedmedia.org/projects/intelligent-mischief.

“Intelligent Mischief.” [Interview with] Aisha Shillingford and Terry Marshall. Anchorage Museum, https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/how-to-survive/participating-artists/intelligent-mischief/.

Robles, Brianna. “A Brooklyn Afrofuturist Art Exhibit Explores a New World With Reparations.” BKReader, 31 Jul. 2025, https://www.bkreader.com/arts-entertainment/a-brooklyn-afrofuturist-art-exhibit-explores-a-new-world-with-reparations-11017376.

Shillingford, Aisha. “Murmurations: Black Imagination Can Build a Better World.” YES! Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023, https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2023/08/29/black-imagination-murmurations.

More Information

intelligentmischief.com

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