The FitArt app combines an art show with a fitness regime for the ultimate artrobic exercise

During the Covid-19 emergency, public gathering places including art galleries and gyms have been closed, giving rise to virtual versions of both. Swiss gallery Roehrs & Boetsch is using this backdrop to bring art to the huge online fitness audience with its app, FitArt, an exhibition framed as a fitness regime. It features a sequence of 30-second exercises designed by different artists, where artwork is part of the workout.

The app launches with a seven-minute routine and in-app show called Connected in Isolation, featuring work by artists Jeremy Bailey, Petra Cortright, Damjanski, Constant Dullaart, Exonemo, Elisa Giardina Papa, Lauren Huret, JODI, Sam Lavigne, Olia Lialina, Jillian Mayer, Evan Roth, Sebastian Schmieg and Molly Soda. Highlights include Bailey’s Tassel Twirl, which sees the artist twirling AR tassels, and Dullart’s Human Saver (DVD guy), which features a shortened version of the famous Youtube clip, which saw him manually recreate the bouncing DVD pause-screen icon.

It ends with Exonemo’s Higher Self, a film showing a person in calm meditation overlooking the ocean being streamed live on Instagram, poignantly interrupted by thousands of comments. The Japanese artist says the piece “questions how our emotions are affected by interfaces”.

Gallerist Nina Roehrs and artist Damjanski chose the fourteen artists for their “native digital” practice. “Digital devices, network technologies and protocols, namely the Internet, YouTube or Instagram, are both object and subject of their research – digital spaces where and for which they create and where they meet their audience,” the duo describe in a statement. “However different in technique and approach, the works in show share an interest and critical approach towards new technologies and platforms, exploring their artistic potential and impact on contemporary (digital) culture.”