iMASSAGE: AN EMOJI LOVE STORY

The Process

iMassage: An Emoji Love Story is an interactive installation that traces a playful yet intimate conversation between two artists separated by an ocean. Created during a period of long-distance connection between Chicago and Istanbul, the piece reflects on contemporary love in the era of omnipresent artificial intelligence.

The work centers around a late-night iMessage chat composed entirely of emojis—a language both universal and ambiguous. As participants scroll through this chat on an iPad, a second screen displays a framed painting that evolves alongside the story. This visual layer is generated by an AI trained on English text, asked to interpret emoji-only messages in near-real time.

The result is a cascade of surprising, surreal, and sometimes poetic imagery—an unintended translation that adds new layers to the conversation. Through this distortion, the piece explores questions around language, iconography, misinterpretation, and emotional resonance.

By turning their private messages into a public work, the artists—who usually steer away from personal reflection—invite viewers to share in a story of longing, curiosity, and connection, while also prompting deeper thought on how AI mediates and transforms our communication.