I’m putting this under the “Art, damn it, art!” watch because I haven’t made up my mind about this one.
Would you pay someone to sharpen your pencil for you? (This is not a metaphor for something else: when I say “sharpen your pencil”, I mean a regular #2 pencil, with graphite and an eraser.)
Would you pay someone $15 to sharpen your pencil for you?
Would you pay someone $15 to sharpen your pencil for you, using a “specially selected” implement that “suits your pencil best”?
Would you pay David “Get Your War On” Rees $15 to sharpen your pencil for you?
My first thought was: this is moronic.
But considering it some more, “artisanal pencil sharpening” could be a subtle and brilliant parody of the whole “artisanal” movement. Artisanal food, artisanal axes; why not “artisanal pencil sharpening”?