When laboratory waste becomes light

Saki says: "The idea behind my live art performances is to generate awareness for more sustainability in everyday research and to promote the principles of reduce, replace, reuse, recycle in everyday laboratory work." 

The objects created by artist Saki, who worked as a molecular biologist in laboratories and industry until 2019, are the focal points of the ongoing campaign, which will transform various locations at ETH into stages of transformation until mid-2026. 

A chandelier with its origins in everyday laboratory life

For this unusual work, employees from various ETH laboratories collected the materials requested by the artist over several weeks, such as reagent bottles, centrifuge tubes and serological pipettes ¨C in short, things that normally end up in the waste bin. However, collecting the materials proved to be no easy task, as laboratory procedures are routine and designed for safety and efficiency. There is often a lack of suitable collection points for recyclable and reusable materials in everyday life.

Furthermore, only uncontaminated materials are suitable for Saki's art installations.  At the time of the performance, there were not enough plastic reagent bottles of the required quality available for the chandelier. Saki responded creatively and flexibly to the ¡®material shortage¡¯ and quickly replaced individual elements of the design with Falcon tubes (centrifuge tubes). This does not detract from the artwork. On the contrary:  "The chandelier is now something very specific to ETH", says the artist. 

Sustainability in the laboratory  

Saki, a multimedia and transdisciplinary artist, is a guest at various universities with her works and performances, where she acts as an intermediary between artistic practice and scientific contexts. She combines a unique perspective with the extraordinary skills to develop striking textile art pieces from laboratory gloves or pipettes. She is already thinking about designing new objects from the shimmering materials of obsolete laboratory equipment and electronic waste.

Laboratories and scientific equipment account for around one third of indirect greenhouse gas emissions in ETH Zurich's annual greenhouse gas balance, excluding electricity. Awareness of the footprint of laboratories, while recognising their importance for education and research, can be strengthened and discussed more widely through an unusual approach via the genre of art.

GreenLabs initiatives at many leading universities worldwide are taking on the task of translating knowledge and resource awareness into action and the transformation of routines. At ETH Zurich, the GreenLabsZurich network, founded by researchers, has been supporting laboratories for several years in reducing consumables, operating equipment more efficiently and establishing sustainable procurement practices.

A light at the turn of the year  

The current ETH campaign Art of Transformation invites us to perceive laboratory materials as resources: not as static objects, but as potentially recurring components of regenerative thinking. Used materials take on new meaning ¨C in art through creative reinterpretation and changed context, in the circular economy through repurposing in a different setting.

Transformation here means not only reshaping material, but also rethinking how we use it.  In a politically and socially challenging time, Saki's chandelier provides a calm and sensual accent. It was not only presented at last Saturday's Polyball, but will also illuminate the entrance hall of ETH Zurich until 18 December. With a light that shows the possibilities that arise when ordinary materials take on new meaning.