Suzanne Lee: Grow your own clothes

Translator: Matej Divjak Reviewer: Lenka Tušar

So as a fashion designer,

Kot modna oblikovalka

I've always tended to think of materials

sem o materialih vedno razmišljala

something like this,

nekako tako,

or this,

ali tako,

or maybe this.

ali morda tako.

But then I met a biologist,

Potem pa sem srečala biologa

and now I think of materials like this --

in zdaj o materialih razmišljam tako -

green tea, sugar,

zeleni čaj, sladkor,

a few microbes and a little time.

nekaj mikrobov in malo časa.

I'm essentially using a kombucha recipe,

V bistvu uporabljam recept kombuche,

which is a symbiotic mix

ki je simbiotska mešanica

of bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms,

bakterij, kvasovk in drugih mikroorganizmov,

which spin cellulose

ki predejo celulozo

in a fermentation process.

v procesu vrenja.

Over time, these tiny threads

Čez čas te majhne nitke

form in the liquid into layers

v tekočini oblikujejo plasti,

and produce a mat on the surface.

ki na vrhu ustvarijo debelo plast.

So we start by brewing the tea.

Začnemo s kuhanjem čaja.

I brew up to about 30 liters of tea at a time,

Naenkrat skuham okoli 30 litrov čaja

and then while it's still hot, add a couple of kilos of sugar.

in mu, dokler je še vroč, dodam nekaj kilogramov sladkorja.

We stir this in until it's completely dissolved

Mešamo, dokler se popolnoma ne raztopi,

and then pour it into a growth bath.

potem pa vlijemo v kad za rast.

We need to check that the temperature

Preveriti moramo, da se je temperatura

has cooled to below 30 degrees C.

ohladila pod 30 stopinj Celzija.

And then we're ready to add the living organism.

Potem smo pripravljeni, da dodamo žive organizme.

And along with that, some acetic acid.

Skupaj z njimi pa še nekaj ocetne kisline.

And once you get this process going,

Ko proces enkrat steče,

you can actually recycle

lahko že povreto tekočino

your previous fermented liquid.

dejansko reciklirate.

We need to maintain an optimum temperature for the growth.

Za rast moramo vzdrževati optimalno temperaturo.

And I use a heat mat to sit the bath on

Sama kad pokrijem z grelno blazino,

and a thermostat to regulate it.

s termostatom pa reguliram temperaturo.

And actually, in hot weather, I can just grow it outside.

Ko pa je vroče, pa lahko pravzaprav gojim kar zunaj.

So this is my mini fabric farm.

To je torej moja mini tovarna tkanin.

After about three days,

Po približno treh dneh

the bubbles will appear on the surface of the liquid.

se bodo na površini tekočine pojavili mehurčki.

So this is telling us that the fermentation is in full swing.

To nam pove, da je vretje v polnem zamahu.

And the bacteria are feeding

In bakterije se hranijo

on the sugar nutrients in the liquid.

s sladkornimi hranili v tekočini.

So they're spinning these tiny nano fibers

Tako tvorijo ta majhna nano vlakna

of pure cellulose.

čiste celuloze.

And they're sticking together, forming layers

Le-ta se sprijemajo in oblikujejo plasti,

and giving us a sheet on the surface.

ki nam na površini dajo plahto.

After about two to three weeks,

Po približno dveh do treh tednih

we're looking at something which is about an inch in thickness.

vidimo nekaj, kar je približno za palec debelo.

So the bath on the left is after five days,

Kad na levi je po petih dneh,

and on the right, after 10.

tista na desni pa po desetih.

And this is a static culture.

In to je statična kultura.

You don't have to do anything to it;

Ničesar vam ni treba delati;

you just literally watch it grow.

dobesedno gledate, kako raste.

It doesn't need light.

Ne potrebuje svetlobe.

And when it's ready to harvest, you take it out of the bath

Ko je pripravljena na žetev, jo vzamete iz kadi

and you wash it in cold, soapy water.

in jo operete v hladni, milnati vodi.

At this point, it's really heavy.

V tej fazi je resnično težka.

It's over 90 percent water,

Preko 90 odstotkov je vode,

so we need to let that evaporate.

zato moramo pustiti, da izhlapi.

So I spread it out onto a wooden sheet.

Jaz jo razgrnem po leseni deski.

Again, you can do that outside

In spet, tudi to lahko naredite zunaj

and just let it dry in the air.

in pustite, da se posuši na zraku.

And as it's drying, it's compressing,

Ko pa se suši, se tudi krči,

so what you're left with, depending on the recipe,

tako da vam ostane, odvisno od recepta,

is something that's either

nekaj, kar je podobno

like a really light-weight, transparent paper,

resnično lahkemu, prosojnemu papirju,

or something which is much more like a flexible vegetable leather.

ali pa nečemu, kar je bolj podobno prožnemu rastlinskemu usnju.

And then you can either cut that out

In potem lahko to izrežete

and sew it conventionally,

in sešijete kot običajno,

or you can use the wet material

lahko pa ta moker material uporabite

to form it around a three-dimensional shape.

za ovijanje okoli tridimenzionalne oblike.

And as it evaporates,

Med izhlapevanjem

it will knit itself together, forming seams.

se bo z oblikovanjem šivov spletlo skupaj.

So the color in this jacket is coming purely from green tea.

Barva te jakne je tako izključno od zelenega čaja.

I guess it also looks a little bit like human skin,

Mislim, da je nekoliko podobna tudi človeški koži,

which intrigues me.

kar mi je še posebej zanimivo.

Since it's organic,

Ker je organska,

I'm really keen to try and minimize the addition of any chemicals.

si resnično želim zminimizirati dodajanje kemikalij.

I can make it change color without using dye

Barvo lahko spremenim brez barvil

by a process of iron oxidation.

s procesom oksidacije železa.

Using fruit and vegetable staining,

Z uporabo sadja in zelenjave

create organic patterning.

lahko ustvarim organske vzorce.

And using indigo,

Z uporabo indiga pa

make it anti-microbial.

dosežem protimikrobnost.

And in fact, cotton

In bombaž pravzaprav

would take up to 18 dips in indigo

potrebuje do 18 pomakanj v indigo,

to achieve a color this dark.

da doseže tako temno barvo.

And because of the super-absorbency of this kind of cellulose,

Zaradi super vpojnosti te vrste celuloze

it just takes one, and a really short one at that.

pa potrebujemo samo eno, pa še to zelo kratko.

What I can't yet do is make it water-resistant.

Ne znam pa je še narediti vodoodporne.

So if I was to walk outside in the rain

Če bi se torej danes s to obleko sprehodila

wearing this dress today,

zunaj na dežju,

I would immediately start to absorb

bi takoj začela vsrkavati

huge amounts of water.

velikanske količine vode.

The dress would get really heavy,

Obleka bi postala resnično težka

and eventually the seams would probably fall apart --

in na koncu bi verjetno tudi šivi razpadli -

leaving me feeling rather naked.

zaradi česar bi se počutila kar golo.

Possibly a good performance piece,

To bi lahko bila dobra točka za predstavo,

but definitely not ideal for everyday wear.

vsekakor pa ni idealno za vsakodnevno nošenje.

What I'm looking for

Kar iščem, je način,

is a way to give the material

kako temu materialu dati

the qualities that I need.

lastnosti, ki jih potrebujem.

So what I want to do is say to a future bug,

Kar torej želim, je, da bakterijam prihodnosti rečem:

"Spin me a thread.

"Spleti mi nit.

Align it in this direction.

Postavi jo v to smer.

Make it hydrophobic.

Napravi jo vodoodporno.

And while you're at it,

In ko si že pri tem,

just form it around this 3D shape."

jo oblikuj še okoli te 3D oblike."

Bacterial cellulose is actually already being used for wound healing,

Bakterijska celuloza se dejansko že uporablja za celjenje ran

and possibly in the future

in v prihodnosti morda

for biocompatible blood vessels,

za biokompatibilne krvne celice,

possibly even replacement bone tissue.

ali pa celo kot nadomestno kostno tkivo.

But with synthetic biology,

A z uporabo sintezne biologije

we can actually imagine engineering this bacterium

si lahko v resnici predstavljamo oblikovanje bakterije,

to produce something

ki bi nam ustvarila nekaj,

that gives us the quality,

kar nam da kakovost,

quantity and shape

količino in obliko

of material that we desire.

materiala, ki si ga želimo.

Obviously, as a designer, that's really exciting

Kot oblikovalki mi je to seveda resnično razburljivo,

because then I start to think, wow,

ker potem začnem misliti, "Uau,

we could actually imagine

lahko bi si dejansko predstavljali

growing consumable products.

gojenje potrošnih izdelkov.

What excites me about using microbes

Pri teh mikrobih mi je vznemirljiva

is their efficiency.

njihova učinkovitost.

So we only grow what we need.

Vzgojimo samo toliko kot rabimo.

There's no waste.

Ni odpadkov.

And in fact, we could make it from a waste stream --

Pravzaprav bi jih lahko ustvarjali iz odpadkov -

so for example,

na primer

a waste sugar stream

iz odpadnega sladkorja

from a food processing plant.

iz živilske tovarne.

Finally, at the end of use, we could biodegrade it naturally

Ob koncu njihove uporabe pa bi se lahko naravno razkrojili

along with your vegetable peelings.

skupaj z zelenjavnimi olupki.

What I'm not suggesting is that microbial cellulose

Ne želim reči, da bo bakterijska celuloza

is going to be a replacement

postala nadomestek

for cotton, leather or other textile materials.

za bombaž, usnje in druge tekstilne materiale.

But I do think it could be quite a smart and sustainable addition

Vseeno pa mislim, da bi lahko bila precej pameten in trajnostni dodatek

to our increasingly precious natural resources.

našim vedno bolj dragocenim naravnim virom.

Ultimately, maybe it won't even be fashion

Konec koncev, morda sploh ne bo moda

where we see these microbes have their impact.

tista, kjer bodo te bakterije imele svoj vpliv.

We could, for example, imagine

Lahko si, na primer, predstavljamo,

growing a lamp, a chair,

kako si vzgojimo svetilko, stol,

a car or maybe even a house.

avtomobil ali morda celo hišo.

So I guess what my question to you is:

Tako mislim, da je moje vprašanje vam:

in the future, what would you choose to grow?

kaj bi v prihodnosti izbrali vi, da si vzgojite?

Thank you very much.

Najlepša vam hvala.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Bruno Giussani: Suzanne, just a curiosity,

Bruno Giussani: Suzanne, samo iz radovednosti,

what you're wearing is not random. (Suzanne Lee: No.)

kar nosiš, ni naključno. (Suzanne Lee: Ne.)

This is one of the jackets you grew?

To je ena od jaken, ki si jo vzgojila?

SL: Yes, it is.

SL: Ja, je.

It's probably -- part of the project's still in process

Najbrž je - le del projekta, ki še traja,

because this one

ker tale tu

is actually biodegrading in front of your eyes.

se dejansko razkraja pred vašimi očmi.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

It's absorbing my sweat, and it's feeding on it.

Vsrkava moj pot in se z njim hrani.

BG: Okay, so we'll let you go and save it, and rescue it.

BG: Prav, te bomo pustili, da greš in jo rešiš.

Suzanne Lee. (SL: Thank you.)

Suzanne Lee. (SL: Hvala.)

(Applause)

(aplavz)