Interview: Michel Grini
Interview: Michel Grini
French knife maker Michel Grini has two passions: knives and photography. In both, he tries to find his own style.
Text and pictures: Gregory Pohl
G.P.: How did you come to cutlery, and how did you learn the job?
M.G.: I came to cutlery almost by accident, barely five years ago. I used to work in the management business when my son talked to me about his newest passion for knives. He wanted to tinker some blades, but as he was too young to work alone, I helped him with the tools we had available in the cellar, from scratch. As it is often the case with teenagers, his passion quickly passed away, but I stayed interested and started making very rudimentary knives. I had no knowledge about manual work, and I didn’t even knew there were still professional custom knife makers in France and elsewhere, it only became later a passion for me when I seriously got interested in the topic. I wanted to learn more about the technical aspects, so I got in touch with other craftsmen.
So I’m self-educated, stimulated by the research of fixing all the problems that occur when working on knives, and by sharing knowledge with those that I can now call fellows.
G.P.: How do you work on your blades (stock removal, forging), and how did you come to these techniques?
M.G.: I’m working with the stock removal technique, first because I didn’t master the forging techniques, and because I couldn’t do it at home. Then – and although I admire the work of my fellows who are forging -, I realized stock removal corresponds quite well to the type of knives I produce, in terms of shape, design, usage and operation.
G.P.: What influences you in the design of your knives?
M.G.: It’s difficult to answer this question. To make a drawing is to let go to the desire of the moment. On the other hand, some expectations are always present when I finalize a design: the knife must be usable, a sort of tool, which feels good in one’s hand. It also must be pleasant to the eye, even if this is very subjective. The combination of these parameters, added to my personal taste, usually lead me to sober lines that I especially like because I see them as more timeless. My everlasting passion – photography - also always brought me to the sobriety of lines and compositions. I probably have a taste for that, like the concept of foreground and background in photography, different lines that can be seen in my shapes.
Somehow, a designer will think about a design in terms of function. Personally, I will look for sobriety and the need of the client. In photography, friends of mine defined this as “grinimalism”… I like to show the reality as it is, and not as we see it through the prism of an lens.
G.P.: What are your principal satisfactions regarding your work?
M.G.: Besides the variety of disciplines touched by this craftsmanship, the diversity of daily tasks, what I like most in this job is the fact that it’s very creative, at least in the way to apprehend it. In fact, it sustains the purely technical aspect as much as raw creation. It is a profession of learning, discipline, and creative possibilities.
But I find pure technique less interesting as what it makes possible. And mastering sufficiently these techniques to be able to forget them is also a great satisfaction. It enables me to concentrate on creativity and design.
Text and pictures: Gregory Pohl
G.P.: How did you come to cutlery, and how did you learn the job?
M.G.: I came to cutlery almost by accident, barely five years ago. I used to work in the management business when my son talked to me about his newest passion for knives. He wanted to tinker some blades, but as he was too young to work alone, I helped him with the tools we had available in the cellar, from scratch. As it is often the case with teenagers, his passion quickly passed away, but I stayed interested and started making very rudimentary knives. I had no knowledge about manual work, and I didn’t even knew there were still professional custom knife makers in France and elsewhere, it only became later a passion for me when I seriously got interested in the topic. I wanted to learn more about the technical aspects, so I got in touch with other craftsmen.
So I’m self-educated, stimulated by the research of fixing all the problems that occur when working on knives, and by sharing knowledge with those that I can now call fellows.
G.P.: How do you work on your blades (stock removal, forging), and how did you come to these techniques?
M.G.: I’m working with the stock removal technique, first because I didn’t master the forging techniques, and because I couldn’t do it at home. Then – and although I admire the work of my fellows who are forging -, I realized stock removal corresponds quite well to the type of knives I produce, in terms of shape, design, usage and operation.
G.P.: What influences you in the design of your knives?
M.G.: It’s difficult to answer this question. To make a drawing is to let go to the desire of the moment. On the other hand, some expectations are always present when I finalize a design: the knife must be usable, a sort of tool, which feels good in one’s hand. It also must be pleasant to the eye, even if this is very subjective. The combination of these parameters, added to my personal taste, usually lead me to sober lines that I especially like because I see them as more timeless. My everlasting passion – photography - also always brought me to the sobriety of lines and compositions. I probably have a taste for that, like the concept of foreground and background in photography, different lines that can be seen in my shapes.
Somehow, a designer will think about a design in terms of function. Personally, I will look for sobriety and the need of the client. In photography, friends of mine defined this as “grinimalism”… I like to show the reality as it is, and not as we see it through the prism of an lens.
G.P.: What are your principal satisfactions regarding your work?
M.G.: Besides the variety of disciplines touched by this craftsmanship, the diversity of daily tasks, what I like most in this job is the fact that it’s very creative, at least in the way to apprehend it. In fact, it sustains the purely technical aspect as much as raw creation. It is a profession of learning, discipline, and creative possibilities.
But I find pure technique less interesting as what it makes possible. And mastering sufficiently these techniques to be able to forget them is also a great satisfaction. It enables me to concentrate on creativity and design.
G.P.: What are your other passions?
M.G.: Photography: for a long time, it has been my one and only passion, in a slow and laid exercise – almost meditative - with an old school 4”x5” camera obscura, a big box with a black towel like our ancestors used. The link with cutlery is the philosophical manner to apprehend things, the slow research through simplicity and sobriety, without looking for art: first the function of the tool.
In photography, I gave things to see. In cutlery, I give things to see and to use.
Moreover, knives touch more people than photos, there are more aficionados and users.
G.P.: What are your objectives for the future?
M.G.: I’m planning to produce knives with different systems, like lock backs. I’m just lacking time to make them.
http://www.couteaux.michel-grini.com
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