One is the loneliest number

Last Christmas I received a wonderful pair of leather Timberland gloves from my mother-in-law. They were the most comfortable, warmest pair of gloves that had ever graced my hands. But then, tragedy struck – one day, late in the winter, I got off the bus on my way in to work only to discover that one of the gloves was gone. The glove was never recovered, and now its lonely mate sits in my closet, giving me a reproachful look every time I reach in to grab my coat.

But thanks to Carnegie Mellon artist Jennifer Gooch, there is hope. She has created onecoldhand.com, which features documents and photos of abandoned gloves, and encourages residents to submit stray gloves they come across in the hopes of reuniting them with their owners – and their mates. Gooch is interested in how people use the Internet to connect with each other. She believes the lone glove, useless without its mate, is the emblem for a sense of disconnect.

As for me, I just hope my mother-in-law doesn’t read this.

Jonathan Potts