"Memory Stacking",
Joe Pease,
2025

"Memory Stacking" by Joe Pease

We're proud to share that Joe Pease's latest video work, Memory Stacking, is now live. Commissioned by SILK's co-founders Dino and Ambar for its debut during Silk Road Chapter 02 in Bali (May 26–30 2025), the work marks a number of firsts: it is the longest piece Pease has created to date, and the first he has minted under the ERC-7160 standard – a dynamic contract that allows digital artworks to remain mutable even after they've been collected.

An open invitation

In Memory Stacking, Pease continues to refine his distinctive language: looping video, layered symbolism, and a quiet surrealism rooted in everyday life. But this time, he invites us in even deeper. The piece feels more internal, more reflective – with the viewer moving through the memory-scape of a mind trying to make sense of routine, habit, burden, and the possibility of release.

Memory Stacking was commissioned from the belief in the urgency and precision of Joe Pease's work – his way of embedding the existential into the mundane without overstating it. His videos often feel like dreams you didn't know you had, or déjà vu moments from a life adjacent to your own. That subtlety is rare, and we felt it deserved both the freedom of time and the respect of context. This work has been in development for many months, carefully composed and edited by the artist. We wanted to give it a place to land.

And while we've been close to the work as it evolved, we've deliberately chosen not to publish our full reflection on Memory Stacking right away. Why? Because we believe art should remain, first and foremost, an open invitation. We want the first encounter with a work of art to be yours alone. For you to be allowed to look, to feel, and to reflect – without being told what to think.

At SILK, we see ourselves not as commentators, but as facilitators. We want to create space, not fill it ourselves fully. And that means holding back sometimes – resisting the urge to over-explain, and instead trusting the work, and the viewer, to meet each other on their own terms.

Memory Stacking is full of strange, quiet moments: a floating boulder, a lawnmower on cobblestones, a man waiting with flowers, a horse in a city alley. They suggest. They loop. They linger. Our full thoughts will follow soon, but only after you've had time to 'walk past' those alleys yourself.

A note on the contract: ERC-7160

Memory Stacking is minted under the ERC-7160 standard – an Ethereum contract framework developed specifically for time-based digital art. It is an extension of ERC-721, the widely adopted standard for NFTs. This means it retains compatibility with existing marketplaces and wallets, while adding new functionalities designed for artworks that evolve over time. Unlike the more standard NFTs, which are 'frozen' at the moment of minting, ERC-7160 allows works to remain dynamic: to shift in appearance, content, or structure even after they're collected.

ERC-7160 supports deliberate change – changes triggered by the artist, or encoded into the logic of the work itself. This could mean updating the file, changing its metadata, layering in new visual or audio elements, or modifying how it behaves over time. It's a structure that reflects how digital art is often made: not as a single, final image, but as a living system – responsive, iterative, and open to evolution.

This is the first time Joe Pease has minted a work under this framework and it means Memory Stacking is not just a snapshot of this moment, but a work that might continue to grow or shift. In this way, it actually quite beautifully mirrors the concept of 'memory' itself: fragile, layered, and always in flux.

See for yourself

We're honored to support Joe Pease in releasing this new chapter of his work, and excited to see how you as viewers respond to it. For now, we invite you to watch Memory Stacking not to solve it, but to sit with it. To follow its repetitions. To notice what sticks. To return. Time and time again. Sometimes the most powerful works of art aren't those that explain – but those that simply stay with you.

We'd love to know what Memory Stacking evokes for you. What lingered after watching? What details are now looping in your mind? For us, art becomes richer through conversation, and we warmly invite you to share your thoughts with us — either on Instagram or X. Tag us, write a note, or just post an image that echoes. We're curious to hear your takes on this new Joe Pease piece.