Info: Reza Ali was one of six artists selected by Shepard Fairey to participate in Samsung’s Noteworthy Project. The project was centered around emoticons and their impact on culture, technology, and communication. Each artist was given an emoticon to interpret and express in their work. Reza's created an audio-reactive real-time application that embodied the expressiveness of the emoticon "OMG". "OMG" is used in many ways to express surprise from feelings of happiness, shock, awe, excitement, etc. Reza utilized a particle system with various behaviors to express the various feelings associated with "OMG". These images are captures from the application.

The algorithm behind the structure and aesthetics of the visuals borrows behaviors from nature, i.e. flocking, magnetism, and ant line formations. The visuals are activated by sound (amplitudes, frequencies), and the particle physics are modifiable in real-time, thus various behaviors can be observed.

Artist: Reza Ali
Curator: Shepard Fairey
Director: Jessica Sanders
Producer: Robert Hranichny
Agency: Razorfish
Output: Prints & Custom Software (Java, Processing)
Year: 2012