An uneven net
Constellation is not a chart of a familiar sky.
It is a network: clusters of stars, thin bridges between them, and a few stars on their own. Each star links to its neighbours, so the pattern is uneven.
Light does not flood the field. It travels: when a star lights, a pulse runs along a link and can wake the next star, a little weaker at each hop.
A star that has just fired rests before it answers again. Now and then a small chain starts by itself.
Draw, light, follow the chain
Move and nearby stars lean toward you, then spring back.
Hold on a star with a pinch, the mouse button or a still finger, and it lights. Drag, and every star you cross sends pulses along its bridges.
The longer you hold, the more light gathers around your hand; let go and the nearest ready star answers with a cascade as strong as the hold was long. An open hand carries you into the net: stars beside you grow large and soft, and the longer bridges appear.
A fist draws you back until the whole network is ahead, closer and brighter. With sound on, each lit star has a note, and each hop a higher one.
Where it comes from
Constellations are patterns of stars identified from Earth, often carrying names and stories passed down through different cultures.
The stars that appear close together in our sky may actually be separated by enormous distances. Their apparent relationships depend on our viewpoint, turning a three-dimensional universe into recognisable figures.
Constellation takes this idea of connections created through observation and gives it a different life. Its luminous nodes also resemble a network, where signals can travel between connected points.
The world brings together celestial imagery and the geometry of interconnected systems, allowing a pattern that would normally be fixed in the sky to become something responsive and changing.
Things to try
- Approach a single star and draw it closer.
- Spark one node and follow the travelling light.
- Move through several connected stars.
- Watch how a change in one place reaches another.
With a mouse, touch or your hands
You can explore with a mouse, a touch screen or your own hands.
Mouse and keyboard
- Move the pointer to draw nearby stars toward it.
- Hold the button on a star to light it, drag to carry the chain, and release for the cascade.
- The wheel, or the up and down arrows, carries you into the net or draws you back.
Touch
- Slide a finger to draw stars in.
- Rest it on a star to light it, drag to sweep the chain, and lift for the cascade.
- Spread two fingers to move into the net, or bring them together to step back.
Hands, with the camera
- Point to draw stars toward your hand.
- Pinch a star to light it, drag through the net, then open your fingers for the cascade.
- Open the palm to move inside, close the fist to step back.
- The camera stays off until you turn it on.