Schäfer was a fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Her artistic research and development work spans from the early 1990s—with the development of the art project TopoPhonien, for which she received the Siemens Media Art Prize in 1993— through the mid-2010s, with the development of her series of works featuring interactive graphics with audio QR codes and augmented reality videos, and up to the early 2020s, with the experimental development of glass sound objects.

Her works are part of the collections of the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe and the phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, among others. Schäfer collaborates with scientists, scientific institutions, and other artists, resulting in interdisciplinary works. The microcosm and macrocosm of nature are at the center of her artistic work.

She is a visiting lecturer at the Bern University of the Arts. She also volunteers as a board member of GEDOK Karlsruhe, where she has served as an advisory board member for photography and media art since 2018.

Work Title: Klingende Bilder

Sabine Schäfer presents photographs of trees that have been stylized in intense shades of magenta, turquoise, and yellow and printed on Aludibond panels. QR codes on the works allow viewers to access the artist’s sound compositions, in which the buzzing of bees and beetles opens up an acoustic dimension and enhances the visual experience.