Artist Talk: Jean Shin
Sat Nov 7, 2026 | 2–3 PM
Jean Shin, Photo: Daniel Terna
Entangled Futures: Technology, Material Consumption and the Changing Environment
Join artist Jean Shin for a conversation exploring the relationships between technology, material consumption and the changing environment, presented in conjunction with the exhibition Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change.
Shin’s practice transforms discarded materials, including e-waste, into sculptures and installations that examine the environmental and social consequences of our consumer-driven lives. In this talk, she will reflect on her artistic practice and consider how technology shapes our relationship with the environment and one another.
Shin’s talk will be followed by presentations from Dr. Sara Ghebremusse, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law and Academic Director of the Future Minerals Initiative, and Dr. Milind Kandlikar, Professor at UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. They will explore questions around technological growth, material consumption and who bears the environmental and social costs of a changing technological landscape.
Free for Circles of Giving and Experiences Members, $5 for Ideas Members, and $10 for Access Pass Holders and the general public.
Capacity is limited. Registration is required. Doors open at 1:30 PM. Admission to the Gallery is not included.
If cost is a barrier to you or if you have any questions around accessibility at this event, please reach out to learn@vanartgallery.bc.ca or call 604 662 4700.
Jean Shin is the Yosef Wosk Artist in Residence at UBC Green College, where she is in residence from late October through mid-November 2026. Her residency is presented in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Shin’s installation Huddled Masses (2020) is currently on view at the Gallery as part of Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change through January 10, 2027.
This program is presented as part of the Gallery’s Centre for Global Asias initiative and in partnership with UBC Green College.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jean Shin is known for her sprawling and often public sculptures, transforming accumulations of discarded objects into powerful monuments that interrogate our complex relationship between material consumption, collective identity and community engagement. Often working cooperatively within a community, Shin amasses vast collections of everyday objects—Mountain Dew bottles, mobile phones, 35mm slides—while researching their history of use, circulation and environmental impact. Distinguished by this labour-intensive and participatory process, Shin’s creations become catalysts for communities to confront social and ecological challenges. Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in the United States, Shin works in Brooklyn and Hudson Valley, New York. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in over 150 major museums and cultural institutions, including solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Shin has received numerous awards, including the Frederic Church Award for her contributions to American art and culture. Her works have been highlighted in The New York Times and Sculpture Magazine, among others. She is a tenured Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute and holds an honorary doctorate from the New York Academy of Art.
Dr. Sara Ghebremusse is an Associate Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. Her research and teaching focus on mining law and governance, transnational corporate accountability, business and human rights, law and development, and the legal and political dimensions of extractivism. Her work examines the transnational impacts of Canadian mining abroad, particularly in Africa, as well as the evolving governance of mining in British Columbia in light of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Dr. Ghebremusse is also the Academic Director of the Future Minerals Initiative, an interdisciplinary UBC research cluster focused on responsible mineral exploration and development. She serves as a Principal Co-Investigator with the Canada Climate Law Initiative, is a board member of the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project and is a member of the Third World Approaches to International Law Review Editorial Collective.
Dr. Milind Kandlikar is Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia. He is the former Director of IRES, and his work focuses on the intersection of technology innovation, human development and the global environment. His current projects include cross-national comparisons of regulation of agricultural biotechnology; air quality in Indian cities; risks and benefits of nanotechnology; new technologies for sustainable transportation; and development and climate change.
