@theretheirtheyreshow @ba.design.gold
18-22 JUNE 2026
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Before Function
Pandy Wang
Before Function is a series of tools designed according to a logic that is not entirely human.
Made through machining and forging, the objects look as though they belong to a real system, yet their purpose remains unclear. They sit somewhere between tool, artefact and speculation. Familiar enough to invite use, but unfamiliar enough to resist immediate recognition.
The project explores what happens when people can no longer rely on automatic understanding. Without instructions or correct answers, users are encouraged to test, imagine and negotiate their own relationships with the objects. Instead of guiding behaviour towards a specific function, the tools keep meaning open for longer.
The work focuses on the moment before understanding becomes fixed again, when recognition fails and curiosity begins.
Made through machining and forging, the objects look as though they belong to a real system, yet their purpose remains unclear. They sit somewhere between tool, artefact and speculation. Familiar enough to invite use, but unfamiliar enough to resist immediate recognition.
The project explores what happens when people can no longer rely on automatic understanding. Without instructions or correct answers, users are encouraged to test, imagine and negotiate their own relationships with the objects. Instead of guiding behaviour towards a specific function, the tools keep meaning open for longer.
The work focuses on the moment before understanding becomes fixed again, when recognition fails and curiosity begins.
Curiosity
Recognition
Non-human Logic
Thanks, Thanks, Thanks