I build one absurd web project every month and publish it on https://absurd.website
I kept going.
There are now 48 projects.
The idea is still the same - I build mostly unnecessary web projects that sit somewhere between experiments, jokes, products, and art.
But over time they’ve started moving more toward net art than just experimental web.
Some recent ones:
VandalAds - a banner format you can destroy instead of just viewing Type Therapy - instead of talking affirmations, you type your thoughts to change them Slow Rebranding - branding changes so slowly you don’t notice it Guard Simulator - a crime appears for 15 seconds per day, if you catch it you win
I also started releasing some projects only to members, so not everything is public anymore.
What I like most is the rhythm: one public project and one private project each month. It forces me to realize ideas instead of leaving them in notes.
The core is still always the idea and concept - not polish, not execution, not even usefulness.
It’s also interesting to see whether people understand the thought inside a project, discover something else in it, or see nothing at all.
I’m still going, and at this point absurd.website has become a big part of my life.
Thanks.
Eyes Dating Site
I used to joke that an Afghan Tinder would just be swiping left or right on pictures of eyes because of the niqab.
Sexy Math
This is sort of a variation on the classic NSFW jigsaw/Rubik’s cube-style puzzle, and of course a number of old ’80s PC games where you revealed a risque picture.
If you want to make this more amusing, you should really include some saucy pictures of actual mathematicians, kind of like a play on the “sexy scientists” calendar in The IT Crowd.
Spot the Differences
There’s a great episode of The Office where Pam distracts Creed, the new acting manager, from destroying the branch by giving him two pictures from corporate and asking him to find the differences. Of course, they’re the same picture.
Honestly, when I saw the title "Sexy Math," I half-expected to see a picture of Jeffrey Goldblum (the chaos theory mathematician in Jurassic Park).
Curious if you have any paying members? Not something I would pay for, but also there didn't seem to be enough information to convince anyone to pay?
I’m not trying to optimize for conversion or make a strong sales pitch. The members part is more like a way to put some projects in a "private layer" and see if anyone is curious enough to go deeper.
Payment also kind of brings the projects to life because they play with startup ideas, paying becomes part of the interaction.
Favorites: VandalAds (the spray-painting origin story you mentioned makes the whole concept click) and Slow Internet Simulator (there's something real about nostalgia for imperfection). Trip to Mars at 210 real-time days is also wild - has anyone actually completed it?
I wonder if you’ve hit on something interesting… are interactive ads a thing? I don’t know much about adtech but it seems like it could be a good idea.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one.
Interactive ads exist in some form, but they’re usually quite controlled and safe. What interests me more is the moment when the user actually does something to the ad - even destroys it. Then it becomes an experience, not just a banner, and stay in you memory.
The idea actually comes from a personal experience - when I was younger I spray-painted over a real outdoor ad, and I still remember that ad to this day. Not because it was good, but because I interacted with it. In thhis project I basically playing with that same idea in a digital form.