‘Common Threads’ of consumerism at American Art Museum

One woman’s trash is another’s art, but usually not this literally.

Jean shin takes our consumer culture’s castoffs — stained neckties, discarded computer keys, old shoes, — and renders it into fascinating contemporary art. The new “Everyday Monuments,” a collection of hundreds of trophies collected from denizens of the D.C. area, is a bright new chapter in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s thoughtful compilation of a half-dozen of her transformative installations, all created in the 21st century.

Meanwhile 2001’s “Chance City,” a mini-urban metropolis built from $24,496 in losing lottery tickets, and 2005’s “Chemical Balance,” a cave-interior assembled from discarded pill bottles, both bring a more critical examination to society’s woes.