Coma Artistic (Oli Filin & Clemens Hasler)—What Is the Real Koganecho? Ongoing

We are currently producing a series of images and short videos that explore how we perceive and remember our surroundings, what characteristics shape our shared memories, and what makes a place feel “real.” We have chosen Koganecho as the specific subject of this project.

In this project, we focus on the “river” and the “railroad”—two key elements that characterize the Koganecho neighborhood. Drawing on a collection of photographs, textual descriptions, and people’s various associations, we explore how AI can generate landscapes that, despite not actually existing, are instantly recognizable as “typical of Koganecho.”This is an attempt to view AI as a medium for visualizing collective memory.

Rather than simply viewing AI-generated images as “fakes” and contrasting them with human “authentic memories,” this project questions what makes an image of a place “real” in the first place. Human memory, too, is selective, subjective, and constantly being reconstructed. Meanwhile, AI performs a similar process on a different scale.By collecting the traces left by many people and combining them, we create a single, composite Koganecho. This is an “accumulation of subjectivities”; although it has never actually existed in this exact form, it can be described as a shared, artificial memory of a place that feels somehow familiar to many people.

In parallel with these generated works, we will document our own daily experiences in Koganecho through photography. Furthermore, by inviting visitors to contribute drawings and personal impressions, we will create an ever-evolving visual survey that reflects how each individual remembers this neighborhood and what kind of Koganecho we collectively imagine.

We are currently working on a series of images and short films that explore how we perceive and remember our surroundings, what key characteristics form a shared memory, and what makes any version of a place real, using Koganecho as a case study. Focusing on the river and the railway line as two defining elements of the neighborhood, the project examines how AI can generate fictional yet immediately recognizable versions of Koganecho from accumulated photographs, descriptions, and associations, serving as a medium to make these collective memories visible.
Rather than treating AI-generated imagery simply as “fake” and pitting it against “real” human memories, the project asks what makes any image of a place real. Human memory is also selective, subjective, and continually reconstructed, while AI performs a comparable act on a different scale—assembling a composite Koganecho from the traces left by many people—aggregated subjectivity—a shared artificial memory of a place that never existed exactly this way, yet remains recognizable to almost everyone.
Alongside these generated works, we document our own everyday experience of Koganecho through photography and invite visitors to contribute drawings and personal impressions, creating an evolving visual survey of how the neighborhood is individually remembered and collectively imagined.

Dates｜September 10 (Thu.) – October 12 (Mon., Holiday) *Closed on Thursdays (except September 10) Hours｜11:00–19:00
Venue｜Kogane Mini Residence C Address｜2-8-7 Koganecho, Naka-ku
, Yokohama

Date｜September 10 (Thu.) – October 12 (Mon.) (Closed every Thursday except September
10) Hours｜11:00–19:00
Venue｜Kogane Mini Residence C
Address｜Yokohama, Naka-ku, Kogane-cho 2-8-7

Artists