My name is Mark Grieve; I am a 43-year-old artist who works in many mediums. I am completing a performance piece entitled “Il Mazzolini Di Fiori,” Act III of a three-act sculpture/performance work of art. Act I was “THE PIG,” a fantastic dinner/happening in the middle of the Black Rock desert in late July 2008. THE PIG was a giant sculpture of a pink pig standing upon a lit art-deco base, bestowed with fireworks, accompanied by a seven-course five-star elegant meal for 75 people, upon a forty-foot-long formally-set table, highlighting culinary as well as visual art.

We chose this location because my associates and I are veterans of the Burning Man festival. I have done major large-scale sculptures for this event over a 12-year period, including the “Temple of Dreams” in 2005, “Temple of Hope” in 2006, and “Bike Arch” in 2007 (see attached pictures.)

With “THE PIG,” we expanded beyond Burning Man’s format. The BLANK canvass of the Black Rock desert provided a dynamic backdrop for the work - a fantastic one-time art-happening barbeque-of-the-ridiculous, crescendo’ing with the burning of an elegant pig sculpture. Through dinner we played Chopin. During dessert, we burnt the sculpture of a HUGE florescent-pink pig, base included, loaded with various fireworks. It was a huge success. (See http://www.markgrieve.com/current.html).

Act II, we called “An Exercise in Democracy - for Under 500 Bucks,” in which my partner Ilana Spector and I picketed outside the Burning Man event. In a year Burning Man’s event theme was “The American Dream,” we thought this an opportunity to do a performance piece / peaceful protest, bringing attention to an exploitive grant process. Armed with three 1930’s-style picket signs reading “Art on Strike,” “Brush Your Teeth” and “Burning Man Hard On Art,” we handed out 2000 flyers stating our case for a transparent grant process and treating artists with dignity. In an ironic twist, we ended up founding the “Freedom of Speech Zone” just outside the Burning Man event.

Act III, “Il Mazzolini Di Fiori,” meaning “Bouquet of Flowers,” is a collaboration of artists to take place in June 6, 2009. The plan is to create a 30-foot-high “bouquet” of sculptural burnable flowers made by different artists, bringing them together to create the piece. This will be accompanied by yet another outstanding seven-course meal, this time mostly vegetarian, culminating in the burning of the giant bouquet.