Jackson Pollock Paint

JacksonPollock.org is a nearly instructionless browser canvas: move the pointer to fling out drips and blobs, click for another color, and keep going until restraint loses the argument. The long-running net artwork is associated with Miltos Manetas and built around Stamen Design's Splatter idea.

What is Jackson Pollock Paint?

The page drops you onto a mostly blank drawing surface instead of greeting you with menus. Pointer movement leaves paint-like trails; speed and pauses alter whether marks stay stringy or pool into heavier spots. Clicking shifts the color, while keyboard shortcuts provide extra palette and clearing options. That hidden-control design is both the joke and the hook: the browser becomes canvas and paint bucket, with no labels interrupting the first accidental flourish. This is not a biography of Jackson Pollock, but an interactive net artwork that borrows the grammar of drip painting for a tiny set of inputs.

What you can do there

• Move the pointer to create simulated paint drips
• Click or use keyboard controls to change colors
• Clear the canvas and begin another composition

Why we picked it

An apparently empty page answers the first pointer movement with color, making the discovery feel immediate. Its strict limits push each composition toward gesture, timing, and happy mistakes instead of layers or precision controls. The connection between Manetas and Stamen's Splatter also gives the five-minute diversion a genuine place in early web-art culture.

How to get the most from it

Move the pointer across the blank field and vary your speed to mix hairline trails with heavier pools. Click whenever the palette needs a jolt. Letters and numbers select more colors, while the spacebar or a double-click clears the surface when the composition turns to soup.

Good to know

The sparse interface can resemble an unloaded white page until the pointer moves. Treat each composition as temporary because a fresh visit returns to a blank surface. Desktop pointer use is the best-supported route; touch, mobile, save/export, and assistive-technology behavior remain unclear.

Who made it, and when?

Miltos Manetas is the credited creator or organization.