Jean Shin’s “Common Threads” can be seen over at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through July 26, 2009.  I ran there at lunch yesterday, through the rain without an umbrella, to see first hand how Shin transforms castoff materials into elegant expressions of identity and community. 

These are sculptural installations that took Shin’s team over three weeks to assemble.  Everyday Monuments is installation art featuring cast-off sports trophies; Untied is an assemblage of silk ties through wire fencing; Chance City is over $24,000 worth of loser lottery cash cards built in a virtual “house of cards”; Armed is comprised of donated uniforms from Brooklyn’s local servicemen and women; and my favorite Chemical Balance III, 2009 (detail pictured below) deals with the production, commodification and consumption of commerical prescription pills.  An in-depth article from the artist’s website on Chemical Balance is found at www.jeanshin.com/chemical_balance.htm.

The artist, a Pratt graduate, is scheduled to give a gallery talk with Joanna Marsh (a James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art) on Thursday, June 25 at 6pm to include concentration on “Unraveling” constructed between 2006 – 2009.  Unraveling is a dense, brightly colored web of threads from unraveled sweaters – a fascinating site for any textile artist, weaver, or color enthusiast. 

Shin also sits with art curator Joanna Marsh and conservator Hugh Shockey for a conversation about creating art made of ephemeral materials and the challenges and considerations for museums in preserving uniquely constructed works of art in the McEvoy Auditorium on Tuesday, July 7, at 6pm. 

Jean Shin Chemical Balance III, 2009