What does a pencil sharpener gain when it becomes a desk sculpture? The GorillaSharpener, a collaboration between Caran d’Ache and MB&F, starts with the familiar hand-cranked sharpening machine and raises its blue body on four knuckle-walking metal limbs. The change shifts a tool usually tucked away after use into an object meant to stay in view.
A tool designed to be seen
MB&F designer Maximilian Maertens developed the form around Caran d’Ache’s long-running classroom sharpener. The new version retains a working cutter for round and hexagonal pencils from 4 to 10 mm, along with a clamp to secure it to a desk. Its case combines zinc alloy, steel and chrome-plated parts, and the edition is limited to 300 pieces.
ArcHot’s view: The interesting move is spatial as much as visual. The limbs lift the machine off the tabletop and make the act of sharpening a small performance. It is an extravagant answer to a modest task, and that tension is more revealing than the object’s novelty alone.
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