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March 23, 2020


Liat Berdugo: Internet Aerobics





Filmed in a computer Lab, Internet Aerobics is a 20-minute aerobics workout routine about the internet, streaming to you through the internet. Aerobics props of long, blue ethernet cables are used, and hyperlink blue is celebrated as the color of online opportunity -- of links that have not yet been clicked. Aerobics moves embody multiple facets of online life, with packets of information speeding through wifi networks, routers, data centers, fiber optic cables -- often times at different speeds due to the lack of net neutrality laws. This workout routine is an invitation to you to sweat along in front of your own browser tab while thinking about and moving through the very makeup of the Internet, itself.





Instructions for participants:
Most aerobics use some kind of prop, and for this routine you’re going to need some kind of long cord, ideally an ethernet cable you have stashed away in your closet from before the days of wifi. But any cord will due, like a cell phone charging cable, an extension cord, or heck -- unplug your computer and use that! Also, make sure you have some space in front of your computer to move your body around. This aerobics routine isn’t about getting the steps right -- it’s about moving and thinking with and through internet infrastructure. As long as you’re moving, you’re good.

Suggested readings: 






BIOS


Liat Berdugo is an artist, writer, and curator whose work focuses on embodiment and digitality, archive theory, and new economies. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and festivals internationally, and she collaborates widely with individuals and archives. She is the co-founder and curator of the Bay Area’s Living Room Light Exchange, a monthly new media art salon; an artist-in-residence at the Internet Archive; and an assistant professor of Art + Architecture at the University of San Francisco. In her past life she was probably an aerobics instructor.

Margaret McCarthy is a San Francisco-based artist whose work has received coverage on CNN, Mother Jones, and Fusion. She is an ensemble member and Co-Artistic Director of the SF Neo-Futurists. She has performed at SOMArts, Artists' Television Access, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Vanessa Hope Schneider is a writer, performer, and alum of the SF Neo-Futurists. She wants you to know that she knows about modern art.

With infinite thanks to artists Elisabeth Nicula and Charlie Macquarie for their help with filming, and to Emily Martinez for brilliant graphics!


Soundtrack credit:

  • “World Wide Web” by Nick Borgen

  • “DNS” by UV Protection

  • “Internet Crash” by Promoe

  • “Internet” by Tyskarna Fran Lund

  • “Get Off the Internet” by Le Tigre

  • “Computer Love” by Zapp & Roger










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Heavy Breathing ︎ 2018



Critical thinking often feels heady, abstract, and divorced from the body. How do conversations change when we are moving our bodies and out of breath? What new modes of thinking become possible?
Mark