Pussy Weevil

Art as Experiment in Embodied Interaction

Three children are watching a small screen displaying a cartoon character on a pink background.

Contributed By: Julian Bleecker

Post Reference Date: May 14, 2003, 17:00:00 PDT

Published On: Jan 2, 2026, 08:34:05 PST

Summary

Pussy Weevil — a "proto-Tex-Avery" animated character with a malleable and virtually indestructible form. A vile, reactive persona that mutates, spits, and glitches. Exhibited at Bitforms Gallery May 15–June 19, 2003, and Ars Electronica 2003.
Pussy Weevil is an individual software animated character that responds to the viewer’s distance or proximity. The piece involves choreography in space and deals with subject / object relationships vis-a-vis the viewer. Pussy Weevil ignores you, outrageously derides you, tries to scare you but it runs away in fright if you get too close.
Pussy Weevil questions how digital characters can be affected by interactions in analog spaces and examines the relationship between the real and computer made worlds.

This project was one of my early explorations into the technology and design of interactive experiences, and I was fortunate to collaborate with the talented artist Marina Zurkow on this piece.

It was exhibited at Bitforms Gallery in New York City from May 15 to June 19, 2003, as part of the "Braingirl E. Pussy Weevil" exhibition. The installation featured a screen-based 2D animated character named Pussy Weevil, whose behaviors were governed by a set of rules that defined its characteristics. The character responded to the viewer's position, influencing what was displayed on the screen.

Seen from today — or even from a few years after its creation — the technology used in Pussy Weevil may seem quite basic. However, at the time, it represented a significant step forward in exploring how digital characters could interact with viewers in physical spaces. The piece challenged traditional notions of subject-object relationships and gets into the dynamics of interaction between the viewer and the digital character.

There were no sophisticated machine vision or AI components available at the time. Not even Arduino. Instead there was lots of custom hardware, code, and a fair bit of late night ingenuity to make it all work.

The bridge between the hardware sensors (at first, ultrasonic which was so space dependent as to be an inducer of anxiety, chaos, and unpredictability; later — for ArsElectronica — replaced by floor sensors) and the Flash animation running on a mini-PC, was built using Java. Th Java code emanated a simple protocol to the Flash application simply telling it which clip to play. The simplicity of that, juxtaposed with the complexity of the hardware, was not terribly charming.

What was charming was that no one cared about that — what they cared about or enjoyed experiencing, was the character itself, and how they could influence its behavior by their own actions in the physical space.

The installation at Ars Electronica 2003 was the first time I took a piece to a large public exhibition like Ars Electronica. At the time, I was very much driven to find ways to induct myself into the art world. I remember seeking out the curator of Ars Electronica at the time (his name escapes me at the moment) when I heard he was in Los Angeles — and I approached him and made the case for including Pussy Weevil in the festival. I was fortunate that he agreed to include it. The experience of exhibiting at Ars Electronica was transformative for me, as it exposed me to a broader community of artists and technologists who were exploring similar themes and ideas.

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Marina Zurkow + Julian Bleecker present “Pussy Weevil” using Flash animation, custom code + Java to create a screen-based 2D animated character whose behaviors are reactive by a set of rules that defines its characteristics, and responds to the position of the viewer, influencing what is viewed.

The Character: Pussy Weevil is described as a “proto-Tex-Avery” animated character with a malleable and virtually indestructible form. It is depicted as a vile, reactive persona that mutates, spits, and glitches.

Interactivity: The piece utilizes custom software and sensors to respond to the viewer’s proximity in analog space. The character may ignore or deride the viewer, but it will run away in fright if someone gets too close.

Technical Specifications: The installation typically consists of a high-resolution monitor (originally a 17-inch screen embedded in a gallery wall) housed in custom metal casing, powered by a PC running custom code.

Pussy Weevil is an individual software animated character that responds to the viewer’s distance or proximity. Your position influences how it acts and behaves. The piece involves choreography in space and deals with subject / object relationships vis-a-vis the viewer. Pussy Weevil ignores you, outrageously derides you, tries to scare you but it runs away in fright if you get too close.