Small doors into the strange web

Source details & what was checked

Jonathan Basile · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Portal loaded freely. Search for “a quiet room” returned exact-match and surrounding-text results. No claim that all generated text or community links were reviewed.
Library of Babel (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Editorial illustration: arched doorways opening onto light — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · 2006

Big Long Now

Rafaël Rozendaal’s 2006 artwork of repeated doors in white space: an unresolved little ritual that asks for lingering, not solving.

A door in white space: pull it open and another door takes its place. A domestic object becomes an oddly unresolved little ritual with very little explanation. A good place to linger without needing a puzzle solution.

Drag the door with a pointer. Repetitive motion; possible door sounds. Short desktop interaction checked.

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Rafaël Rozendaal · 2006
Checked 20 October 2026. Page and door-drag interaction checked in the browser. White space and repeated line-drawn doors; no frightening reveal observed in this short inspection. Page title credits the artist and Sébastien de Ganay collection.
Big Long Now (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Little worlds

Make a small system and watch what happens.

Editorial illustration: a drifting jellyfish — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · Undated live edition

Orb.Farm

Max Bittker’s editable pixel aquarium: tend a circular world of water, plants and small organisms. Artwork and toy, not a scientific model.

An editable pixel aquarium fills a circular world. Water, plants and small organisms make it feel like tending an improbable desktop terrarium. It is an artwork and toy, not a scientific ecosystem model.

Interactive simulation; local changes in your browser.

Access checked · 22 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Max Bittker · Undated live edition
Independent browser review on 22 October 2026 completed the four-step onboarding, inspected the rendered pixel aquarium and placed water by dragging. The linked info panel confirms Max Bittker’s authorship and describes the virtual ecosystem. The exact Wayback capture-history URL loaded its calendar; individual archived simulation playback was not verified. This bounded review does not certify every outbound destination.
Orb.Farm (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Editorial illustration: an hourglass with falling sand — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteBrowser simulation · Undated live edition

Sandspiel

A browser simulation by Max Bittker where painting with sand, water and plants becomes absorbing; a close companion to Orb.Farm.

Paint with sand, water, plants and other materials in a small browser world. A close companion to Orb.Farm and another Max Bittker work, where simple interactions become absorbing to tend.

Interactive canvas. Advertising and cookie controls; community gallery lies outside this selection.

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Max Bittker · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Canvas, sand selection and drawing interaction worked. Creator attribution read in Info. Optional consent could be declined; advertising remains present. Community submissions were not reviewed.
Sandspiel (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Drawing & sound

Make marks, reveal pictures and turn gestures into music.

Editorial illustration: stacked waves between two points — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · Undated live edition

Silk

Yuri Vishnevsky’s drawing space where gestures become flowing, symmetrical strands, with colour and symmetry to play with, plus optional sound.

A small drawing space where gestures become flowing, symmetrical strands. Make a mark to begin, experiment with colour and symmetry, then clear the canvas and start again.

Pointer interaction; optional sound.

Access checked · 19 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Yuri Vishnevsky; music and sound by Mat Jarvis · Undated live edition
Live landing page and visible presentation checked 19 October 2026. Pointer interaction; optional sound. This is a bounded inspection of the linked experience, not of every outbound link. Wayback links are capture-history lookups, not verified working archived editions.
Silk (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Editorial illustration: a mosaic of circles of different sizes — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · Undated live edition

Patatap

Jono Brandel and Lullatone’s visual music: a reference for how little explanation an interactive artwork can need. Flashing imagery and sound.

Letters trigger abstract shapes and short sounds. Playful visual music rather than a page to read, it shows how little explanation an interactive artwork can need.

Sound and rapid colour changes; flashing imagery.

Access checked · 19 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Jono Brandel and Lullatone · Undated live edition
Live landing page and visible presentation checked 19 October 2026. Sound and rapid colour changes; flashing imagery. This is a bounded inspection of the linked experience, not of every outbound link. Wayback links are capture-history lookups, not verified working archived editions.
Patatap (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

WebsiteVisual music · 2015–present

Typatone

A writing tool by Jono Brandel and Lullatone that maps letters to musical notes, so a sentence becomes message and score.

A small writing instrument that maps letters to musical notes, so a sentence becomes both message and score. It bridges this directory and Johnny’s Random Music archive.

Keyboard or on-screen keys; sound is central. Editor inspected; audio and export not tested.

Follow the subjects

Johnny’s Random Music

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Jono Brandel / Lullatone · 2015–present
Checked 20 October 2026. Free editor, on-screen keyboard, explanation and creator credits inspected. Typed a letter and saw it appear in the editor. Audio quality and export were not tested.
Typatone (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · Undated live edition

Koalas to the Max

Vadim Ogievetsky’s interactive artwork: moving across circles subdivides them until a recognisable image emerges from a minimal field of dots.

Move across the circles to subdivide them; a recognisable image emerges from a deceptively minimal field of dots. Follow the plain URL here; versions supplied with other images are outside this selection.

Best with a pointer; gentle reveal.

Access checked · 19 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Vadim Ogievetsky; made for Annie Albagli · Undated live edition
Live landing page and visible presentation checked 19 October 2026. Best with a pointer; gentle reveal. This is a bounded inspection of the linked experience, not of every outbound link. Wayback links are capture-history lookups, not verified working archived editions.
Koalas to the Max (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Endless journeys

Pictures that keep opening into another picture.

Editorial illustration: a tall flower with leaves — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · 2015

Arkadia

A 2015 web artwork by Sophia Schomberg and Nikolaus Baumgarten: a continuously zooming painted garden whose strangeness is scale, not fright.

An endlessly receding painted garden: leaves, branches and impossible botanical spaces open into another layer. Its strangeness is quiet, from scale and continuity rather than a frightening reveal.

Continuous zoom; no sound needed.

Access checked · 19 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Sophia Schomberg and Nikolaus Baumgarten · 2015
Live landing page and visible presentation checked 19 October 2026. Continuous zoom; no sound needed. This is a bounded inspection of the linked experience, not of every outbound link. Wayback links are capture-history lookups, not verified working archived editions.
Arkadia (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

WebsiteInteractive web artwork · 2023 (live-page credit)

Infinite Flowers

Nikolaus Baumgarten’s floral zoom painting: a continuous journey through vast plants and tiny details, with no destination to reach.

A floral zoom painting that feels like travelling into a picture that keeps making room for you. Vast plants, tiny details and landscape fragments fold into the next view; there is no destination.

Continuous zoom.

Access checked · 19 October 2026

Capture lookup; archived playback not verified.

Source details & what was checked

Nikolaus Baumgarten · 2023 (live-page credit)
Live landing page and visible presentation checked 19 October 2026. Continuous zoom. This is a bounded inspection of the linked experience, not of every outbound link. Wayback links are capture-history lookups, not verified working archived editions. The live page credits 2023; the Zoomquilt history mentions a 2022 successor. The directory uses the date on the work itself.
Infinite Flowers (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Strange windows

Watch something other than a street: drifting jellyfish or the planet’s winds. Both have known origins; atmosphere is the connection.

WebsiteAquarium webcam · Undated live edition

Jelly Cam

A real Monterey Bay Aquarium camera showing jellyfish drifting with a quietly otherworldly rhythm; availability and live hours can change.

Jellyfish drift across an aquarium window with a quietly otherworldly rhythm. This is a real camera hosted by Monterey Bay Aquarium. Open the official page and press play; its status shows whether the camera is live.

Video stream; playback checked. Availability and live hours can change. Optional sound.

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Monterey Bay Aquarium · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Official camera page opened, optional cookies rejected and embedded video played visibly without login or payment. Page said camera live now; schedule and stream availability can change.
Jelly Cam (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

Editorial illustration: a globe crossed by wind lines — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

WebsiteScientific visualisation · Undated live edition

earth — the moving atmosphere

Cameron Beccario’s animated wind data on a turnable globe: a scientific visualisation, not a webcam, made uncanny by an unfamiliar instrument.

A dark globe becomes a field of flowing lines. Turning it reveals winds and large-scale patterns that ordinary maps hide. The uncanny feeling comes from seeing familiar Earth through an unfamiliar instrument.

Animated scientific data, not a webcam. Open the earth menu for layers and the displayed data time.

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Cameron Beccario / Nullschool Technologies · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Public globe and flowing wind visualisation rendered without login or payment. Model/data explanation read separately; this is not webcam footage.
earth (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library
Cameron Beccario / Nullschool Technologies · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Read update frequencies, author credit and scientific data sources. Wind is forecast-model visualisation rather than a live camera.
About earth (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library

More artist collections

A route beyond the Cabinet’s individual selections.

Editorial illustration: a window onto a horizon and sun — Editorial illustration · Z13 visual study

Art & literatureArtist catalogue · Undated live edition

Rafaël Rozendaal’s internet works

Rafaël Rozendaal’s own catalogue of hundreds of internet works, a source of leads into spare, ambiguous digital spaces; not all reviewed here.

A substantial artist-authored index of websites and screen works, including Big Long Now. Titles such as Rooms, Blank Windows and This Empty Room are leads into spare, ambiguous digital spaces.

Catalogue checked; its hundreds of works have not all been reviewed. Motion, sound and tone vary.

Access checked · 20 October 2026

Source details & what was checked

Rafaël Rozendaal · Undated live edition
Checked 20 October 2026. Catalogue loaded with dated works and direct links. Big Long Now inspected separately. The wider catalogue is not an entirely reviewed gentle-content collection.
Internet works catalogue (external source, opens a new tab) · In the source library