Photo by Ronald Smits
6/2026 - 80 years – 8 seconds – 180 grams 

80 years – 8 seconds – 180 grams is a research project that follows the journey of a single spruce tree, from seed to ash, with its final material trace transformed into soap. In Northern Europe, fast-growing spruce monocultures are an important economic factor. Often vulnerable to drought, disease and bark beetles, these forests are frequently presented as victims of natural disturbance. A spruce grows from a planted seed into a mature tree within 80 years. Within approximately 8 seconds, it’s cut down. Once felled, the tree is stripped, transported, processed for timber or burned for energy. When burned, the remaining 180 grams of ashes become a material measure of 80 years of growth. Using a historical soap-making process, Robyn Sonntag and collaborator Paula Schulte

transform the ashes of a single tree into soap. By linking the lifespan of a tree to an everyday act of consumption, they propose another reading of forest decline: one that invites reflection on the timescales of forests, industry and human consumption