hello friends...tinderbox artists just did 2 weeks of building an art installation for the firehouse gallery in burlington vt. its a non-profit city 
gallery and a beautifl space. here is our artist' statement we wrote for this 
show.enjoy!

You are by far my favorite at your chosen artistic pursuit.
> Let's be famous to each other.
> 
> 	There is a line on the sidewalk in Burlington where
> somebody sprayed paint out of a water bottle. It runs right
> into the heart of downtown, and then it stops. That gesture
> is important to us in the most fundamental way. That line
> of paint is on the path that people walk every morning to
> go to work or buy a beer.
> 	We come from a place in Brattleboro called the Tinder Box.
> Some people call it a "collective"--we call it a friend
> ship, or a friend shop. Perhaps it could be explained as an
> advanced obscenity and affection boot camp: double major in
> hugs and full-body tackles. Extra points for gross and
> ridiculous. Snot rockets a plus. It's way too late to
> grow up!
> 	Have you ever read an anthology book about an art or music
> scene that overwhelmed you with nostalgia for the actions
> and lives of people you've never met? Nostalgia is a
> small sort of death, the sensation of your conception of
> what is possible diminishing: If someone else already did
> everything cool, then what's left for us?
> 	A lot of people throw around the term "do it
> yourself". Everything is do it yourself. You do it
> yourself daily, or else somebody is telling you what to do.
> 	That is why the paint on the sidewalk is so important. It
> reminds us that the people who dare to leave their mark on
> reality never left town to live in the pages of art books
> or magazines, that they still live down the block and take
> the same path to the pizza place as us.
> 	
> 	We hope you will take our art installation as an
> invitation. You are cordially invited to make the most
> heartbreakingly beautiful things in the world. All you will
> need are your friends. The best art has never been in a
> museum at all- it's the stencil sprayed in a total of ten
> places ever, the one-shot present for your sweetheart that
> you worked on late into the night. It's the phrase
> scrawled on the back of your friend's hand that gave you
> the gut busting laugh that saved your life.
> 	
> 	Our lives are already more fun than we ever imagined, but
> it isn't because we've found a magic word you'll
> never know. Perhaps start here, if you feel like it:
> 	
> 	Don't be afraid to feel weird. Don't be afraid to not
> have very much money. Don't be afraid of yourself. This
> process will expose you to other people who are undertaking
> it, and you will begin to help each other succeed at it.
> After that the world will remain a terrifying struggle--but
> one you won't have to face alone.
> 
> The Tinder Box
> 17 Elliot Street
> Brattleboro, VT 05301