An Interactive Voyage
The Starry
Expedition
a cat's voyage through Van Gogh's night
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh · June 1889
Sail close to the six golden lights — each has a story to tell.
to a solo-piano Canon in D, played live by your browser the moment you arrive
The Starry Expedition is an interactive art experience and HCI design study. A real cat in a wooden boat sails across Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. Steer with a pointer, touch, or the WASD and arrow keys. Six golden landmarks — the crescent moon, Venus, the great swirl, the cypress, the sleeping village and the eleven stars — reveal curated stories when you sail near them. Twenty-six motes of gatherable starlight drift between the landmarks, and one toggle of light calls a golden dawn — or brings back the night — over the same canvas. The music is a solo-piano arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D, synthesised live in the browser and begun the moment you arrive. A companion design paper and a session telemetry annex are available from the toolbar.