theclothingballseries originated in a visit to an historic dry goods store in New Zealand. The several-hundred year-old store had recently been restored. Objects and items discovered in the walls, and beneath the old floorboards, had been assembled into an impromptu museum. In a display case marked Toys, I leaned in to inspect a ball (about the size of an American baseball) more closely. I was surprised to see a shirt button on it. Then I realized that the small ball had been made from what was once a shirt sleeve. At a time in history when nothing was disposable, a thread-bare shirt had been converted into a simple toy for a child.

The original balls for this piece were made from items of clothing I found dumped into the streets of my city. I documented the piles as I found them, extracted the clothing, marked the site on my map and archived the clothing to that location. I laundered the clothes, then sewed them into balls.

These "original" balls are the seeds from which theclothingballseries will grow, based as it is on the free exchange (see participate) of pieces of clothing found dumped in the streets of cities, towns, and villages around the world or in any other public location — be it urban or rural.