BERTY is a collaboration between artist Angela Su and writer Mary Lee, with postscript by Nadim Abbas.
Revolving around the theme of body/machine relationship, BERTY and the adjunct exhibition attempt to answer some of the questions that arise from the body and machine dualism/dichotomy: Is the machine an extension of the body (prosthetics, assembly line)? Or is the body, that consumes and as a consumable artifact, an extension of the machine? Merging various writing styles and genres, graphics and images, scribbles and illustrations, BERTY is a piece of conceptual writing engaged in the discourses of body and machine interrelation.
A literary collage exploring the complex relationships between the machine and the human body, BERTY brings its readers through a fantastical journey through classic texts on the machine and the human condition. By presenting the novella as a centrepiece of the exhibition, BERTY not only provides a key to understanding Angela’s works in the exhibition, but is also an experiment to blur the boundary between visual art and literature.