In pursuit of collectively building an Asian code culture, the generative art exhibition dialog() was first held in midsummer 2024 in Japan. dialog() subsequently toured major Asian cities, creating a space for pluralistic dialogue transcending linguistic and cultural differences, exploring the creative potential brought forth by algorithms, and ultimately concluding its inaugural exhibition. Yet, dialogue must continue to hold meaning. With this shared consciousness, VolumeDAO and NEORT aimed to establish sustained dialogue, thus planning Silver Trail as a spinoff of dialog().

The exhibition Silver Trail focused deeply on a more intimate and intensive dialogue by narrowing participants down to two artists. From Taiwan came Chih-Yu Chen (also known as CYC), who explores the intersection of algorithmic randomness with human emotions and memory. From Japan, Ayumu Nagamatsu participated, whose practice spans from generative art to data-driven art, exploring intersections of technology and history. The core of this exhibition lies not merely in showcasing completed artworks but in presenting the continuous dialogue and collaborative processes of two artists from diverse backgrounds stimulating each other’s creativity through code.

The venue NEORT++ featured two works created through various display methods, from printed works to projector installations and LED displays, enveloping viewers in the exhibition. Particularly notable was the screen displaying Nagamatsu and CYC’s comments on their GitHub, allowing visitors to experience firsthand the evolution of artwork through dialogue. By deliberately setting the rule of “complete freedom,” both artists permitted mutual modification or even deletion of each other’s code. They committed to making at least one small change daily, sharing the code through GitHub. These works, born from sessions rooted in improvisation and dialogue, were presented as continuously evolving “open artworks” throughout the exhibition period.

At the Tokyo NODE talk session about Silver Trail, Nagamatsu cited “Dear Data,” the work of information designers Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, as a reference point. “Dear Data” was a data visualization project in which two designers chose weekly themes, collected personal life data as “small data,” and mailed postcards featuring hand-drawn illustrations and detailed legends to each other over a year. Although the slow medium of postal exchange in “Dear Data” has been replaced by the contemporary tool of GitHub in this exhibition, both share the commonality of presenting the dialogue process itself as the artwork.

The exhibition showcases two distinct collaborative works exploring different modes of cooperation. The first is dialog()2025, built upon daily commits as the foundation of collaboration, employing a real-time joint creation method, akin to synchronous collaboration. Like live coding or pair programming, it intimately fuses the ideas of both artists into one inseparable piece. The second work is SILVER TRAIL, created by the two artists working separately on two distinct layers. Under the loose constraint of “freely connecting given point clusters,” each artist created images based on their unique interpretations, which were then overlaid into a single artwork, exemplifying asynchronous collaboration that maintains each artist’s creative freedom.

The preliminary sales of dialog()2025 launched on July 19th on objkt, with all 15 works immediately selling out. SILVER TRAIL is set to be sold as long-form generative art starting July 26th.

https://objkt.com/collections/KT1F7beMQoPPmmKrGptjS7Xb8N5fLPQE3AXX

From a collective space of co-creation to intimate individual dialogue, dialog() has evolved its experimental scope. The two works presented explore how distinct individualities coexist throughout the creative process, attempting to transform otherness into creativity. What has emerged clearly is that code is more than merely a visual-generating tool—it can serve as a medium for building collaborative creativity. Unlike individual-centered creativity, collaborative creativity emphasizes relationships and interactions as vital sources of innovation. Here, new creativity arises not just from the visual outputs generated but from the interactions, trust, and mutual responsiveness nurtured by artists over time. Indeed, if art emerges from the organic relationships nurtured between people, then those relationships themselves constitute another significant creative outcome. Silver Trail demonstrates that art can be the creation of relationships as much as it is the creation of objects.