I understand objects through a relation of action and response. Pull a handle, and a door swings open; sit down, and a chair takes the weight of the body. Through these responses, we come to know what an object does, and slowly shape the way our bodies relate to it. Yet because these responses arrive at once and hold no surprise, we rarely notice the relation itself. Objects have simply been there too long, too plainly.

We take it for granted that an object accepts weight without resistance. The shelf of The Pause Between does not. The instant weight settles on it, the shelf sinks by the smallest degree, trembles for a moment, and slowly falls still.

The lower shelves are thick and steady. Moving upward, the elements thin and loosen. The topmost shelf answers differently each time, depending on the weight and placement of what rests on it — a single object and several together send it into distinct rhythms of motion.

To set something down is a gesture everyone knows. But before this work, that familiar gesture meets a response it did not expect. The shelf does not simply hold weight — it takes it into its own body and, for a moment, yields. In the brief span before the trembling settles, the viewer senses the distance between the gesture they made and what comes back to them.

The Pause Between holds open that distance — the space between motion and rest, between a gesture and what answers it. Even once the trembling has passed, the hand that sets down the next object does so a little differently.

The Pause Between
2026
Cherry, brass
190 x 31 x 100 (H) cm

The Pause Between Objects
2026
Various dimensions and medium

Designer and craftsman Sanghyeok Lee reconsiders the relationships between objects, people, and the spaces they inhabit. Through refined forms, expert carpentry, and sensitivity to material behavior, his work transforms familiar objects into unexpected encounters that invite closer attention.

For The Pause Between, Lee reimagines the humble shelf as a responsive object. The piece subtly shifts in form as visitors place objects upon it, moving from a straight line to a more curved one. This quiet transformation introduces a moment of pause, inviting visitors to consider the relationship between intention and action, and how even small gestures shape the world around them.

Accompanied by a series of small wooden objects, the work becomes an exploration of balance, responsiveness, and care. With characteristic elegance and restraint, Lee reveals the poetry hidden within everyday interactions—inviting us to look again, act with greater awareness, and reconsider our connection to the objects, materials, and environments we encounter.

— Anna Carnick, the curator of The Overview Effect

The Overview Effect
4–13 September 2026
The Foundry, Berlin