Ajattelen teitä koko ajan (2004)
cotton tape, embroidery

During 2004 I sewed cotton tags with the embroidered text "Ajattelen teitä koko ajan" (I think about you all the time) into the clothing of people I met while in Helsinki, Finland. During 2003 and 2004 I was in Helsinki for several months and I built relationships that were necessarily interrupted by my lack of presence each time I went home. I approached people one by one over the course of several months and asked to sew a tag to the inside of the clothing they were wearing at the time; I then sat next to them and sewed the tag to an inside seam. The act of sewing required that we sit very close to one another for a period of time, and it was generally the closest physically to that person that I had been. Many people only had seams appropriate for the tag deep inside their clothing so sewing required reaching into their shirts, skirts, or pant legs for every stitch. When finished, the tag was invisible from the outside (as well as all stitching) but the tag was a clear presence inside the garment; though it could not generally be felt by the wearer as it was made of soft cotton tape, it was large and brightly colored and would be noticed each time the wearer put the garment on or took it off.