Jack Robins initially studied Gold and Silversmithing at RMIT before moving to Tasmania in 2005 to study Sculpture at the University of Tasmania. He graduated with First Class Honours in 2007 and is currently undertaking a PhD candidature. His research examines the social construction of space, primarily focused on the politics of interrelations and highlights the habitual nature of human movement and interaction within shared environments. Through the use of a Minimal aesthetic and an architectural scale, Robins’ practice addresses the psychology of Late Modernism, specifically the uncertainty of contemporary existence in relation to a heightened awareness of security in public space. His work is often site-specific, being about the space it is sited and situated in such a way to highlight or hide key architectural features. Robins’ intention is always to create an environment or object the viewer must engage with to either enter or move through a space.
In 2007 he was the recipient of the CAST Curatorial Mentorship, curating the exhibition Companion Planting in May 2008. Based on the debate concerning nature and culture, the works in the exhibition illustrated the way human production is linked to the natural environment and the problems created when debate separates the two into distinct streams of thought.
Robins sat on the board of Six_a inc, an artist run initiative in North Hobart, for two years as the publicity officer and artist liaison. He is also a founding member of 10% pending, a spaceless ARI whose objective is to foster new and innovative modes for making, exhibiting and interacting with contemporary art. Robins is currently teaching at the Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania, Hobart in Core Studies. His work has been exhibited in Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Perth.