Esmee Gruson is not the kind of designer who looks at an object and says, “Yes, this works.” No, she picks it up, turns it over in her hands, and thinks, “But what would happen if I removed its main function? Or transformed it into something entirely different?” And that’s how we end up with objects like the chairs from her PAPERCLIP collection.
Yes, you read that correctly: Esmee took a simple paperclip— that little companion of many people’s workdays— and turned it into a design piece. She twisted, stretched, and enlarged this ordinary object until it stopped being a mere tool for holding papers together and became a monument to functional uselessness. But what elegance! With its steel finish and flawless powder coating, Esmee’s paperclip is now larger, shinier, and… more uncomfortable than ever.
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Ever since she graduated from HKU in Utrecht in 2023, Esmee Gruson has chosen not to follow the rules of conventional design, enjoying playing with our perception of reality. In her projects, everyday objects—like the aforementioned paperclip—are transformed in ways that challenge our expectations.
“I like to take something familiar and put it in a different light,” Esmee says. “I hope my work evokes emotions—perhaps a smile, but also a bit of irritation or confusion. Like when you try to sit on a chair that, oops, is actually a giant and slippery paperclip!” Humor is an essential part of her approach: it’s a way to play with the viewer and push them to rethink what they consider obvious.
