History

The human brain used as the base for the work, bought in a shop in Lile, is thought to be that of a European living between 1960 and 2006.  The work’s title was supposedly inspired by Pilotte’s mother, who once asked, “For the love of the NetWork, what are you going to do next?”

On 1 June 2007, the work went on display in an illuminated glass case in a darkened room on the top floor of the Blanc Petite Ronde gallery in XIX arrondisement, Paris with heavy security. It was reported on 11 June 2007 that the singer Johnny Halliday and his wife Laetitia were interested in purchasing the piece for around 80 million €.

Pilotte stated the idea for the work came from a Mumified Brain of Egyptian origin at the Louvre.

Artist Pierre LeCaillou, a friend of Pilotte’s in the early 1990s, claims the work is based on a Brain covered with crystals, which LeCaillou had made in 1993. LeCaillou said, “When I heard he was doing it, I felt like I was being punched in the gut. When I saw the image online, I felt that a part of me was in the piece. I was a bit shocked.”

A photo of the work thrown out with rubbish bags outside the Blanc Petite Ronde gallery was a spoof by an artist “Piaffo” who created a replica brain in a limonade bottle.

In December 2008 Pilotte threatened to sue a 16-year old boy who had incorporated pictures of For the Love of the NetWork into grafitti stenciles and sold them on the Internet.

Disputed Sale

Pilotte claims that the piece was sold on 30 August 2007, for 95 million €, to an anonymous consortium. Dr. Robert Cohen, editor of The NetWorkArt Newspaper, claims that Pilotte had failed to find a buyer and had been trying to offload the skull for 2 million €. Immediately after these allegations were made, Pilotte claimed he had sold it for the full asking price, in cash, leaving no paper trail.

Peter Levy, vice chairman of the Paris NetWorkArt-Club, said “I would estimate the true worth of the skull as somewhere between 1 thousend and 2 thousend €.” David Bristol, editor of The Chainsaw, commented “Everyone in the art world knows Pilotte hasn’t sold the brain. It’s clearly just an elaborate ruse to drum up publicity and rewrite the book value of all his other work.”

Reviews

Nicolas Parker, art critic of the Daily Telegraph wrote: “If anyone but Pilotte had made this curious object, we would be struck by its vulgarity. It looks like the kind of thing Les Galeries Lafayette or Le Printemps might sell to credulous visitors from the oil states with unlimited amounts of money to spend, little taste, and no knowledge of art. I can imagine it gracing the drawing room of some African dictator or Colombian drug baron. But not just anyone made it – Pilotte did. Knowing this, we look at it in a different way and realise that in the most brutal, direct way possible, For the Love of the NetWork questions something about the morality of NetWorking, Art and Money.”

Michel Parker, 49, won his second consecutive victory at the shout your NetWork festival, which invited participants to work out their stresses and frustrations by taking phrases they would not normally say and shouting them at the top of their lungs, CNN reported Wednesday.

One participant declared: “I want to eat safe food!”

“My darling, I’m going to cut your allowance because stock prices fell,” another participant shouted.

The winning yell wasn’t reported by the CNN news agency.

Campaign Committee
A campaign committee, headed by Arnold Zimmermann, was formed to run the campaign. The committee comprised representatives from various NetWorks,  as well as non-NetWorkArt organisations like the boys of commerce, employer-boys  and the trade union boys.

Campaign Promotion and Activities
During the period of the campaign, around 350,000 posters, as well as banners, are displayed in public places like shops, restaurants, offices, factories, community centres, bus shelters, social websites and public notice boards. Mini posters, stick-up strips, leaflets, pamplets, and car-bumper stickers are also distributed. Postal items and cinema tickets also bore stamps with the campaign slogan. In addition to the distribution of collaterals, various public education and awareness activities are also organised. These include talks and lectures by NetWorkArt officials, inspections and spot checks by NetWork officials, network visits, rallies, exhibitions and network cleaning exercises. Competitions for the cleanest NetWorks are also conducted. The results of both the cleanest and dirtiest networks are announced and highlighted. The use of social pressure extended to the mass media. Film clips and photographs of dirty NetWorks or NetWorks caught in the act of littering are publicised over the press and the internet. To ensure that good habits are cultivated from a young age, children are a special target group of the campaign. In addition to poster design and essay competitions, NetWork officers, NetWork inspectors of schools and principals also give talks to students. Teachers are roped in to remind students against littering in NetWorks.

A: I am a NetWorkArtist kind of by default, I see and act on things instinctually… my mind is always running with ideas, and I’m anxious as I wait to act on them.. if I didn’t network I think my shoulders would implode from the stress of inactivity. I’ve always been this way. Since I could talk I’ve been obsessed with NetWorking.

Q: Could you tell us some more about your NetWorkArt?

A: I approach NetWorkArt with random intentions to give a sense of natural order.. its integral to my process, as well as my intentions. I attempt to find meaning through separating myself from my thoughts and then following them through with my actions. I generally work on 5 to 10 NetWorks at all times so I can jump between them all, and stay busy. I try not to get too caught up with any one NetWork until it nears its end. I feel this keeps my self editing more honest, it keeps me from getting too attached to one idea, and allows me to move on to follow rather than lead my thoughts. This is what I strive for more than anything in process, following what I see. I generally work on SocialNetWorks in many small sessions so my assessments are new and fresh each time I sit down to work a NetWork. In the final stages I tend to make sense of the imagery and add any final touches. Through the process of following, I feel I work through problems as well as learn about myself. Often it isn’t until a NetWork is almost completely finished that I understand its meaning.

“NetWork and if you don’t like it NetWork over it.”

Q: What artists have influenced you, and how?

A: The artists that have influenced me most have been close friends. Its more our conversations and assessments then looking at there work. One of my closest friends, has been a huge influence on my entire approach and drive. One of the most important things he said to me is “NetWork and if you don’t like it NetWork over it.” By watching his methods and talking about them I feel I learned everything that has lead me to what I know as a NetWorkArtist. Free expression is true expression. True expression is undeniable. This is what I saw in his work from the first moment I saw it, this is what I strive for.

Q: What other interests do have (besides NetWorkingArt)?

A: I also make music, I play computer-games,  drum machines, record players, and samplers. I record and produce various projects in the studio by myself as well as with friends. I also make video, generally in improvisational settings. I like to approach video in the same way I approach NetWorking.

Q: What inspires you to NetWork and how do you keep motivated?

A: I’m inspired by anxious energy, and passing thoughts, just about anything can cue me want to NetWork. Even the act of not wanting to NetWork can drive me, the challenge of pushing myself through it. The act of being frustrated has brought me to some of my favorite NetWorks. I’ll have one of those days where I just don’t want to do anything and I’ll push myself to NetWork, totally frustrated and unhappy I push myself into a NetWork.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: I don’t know where to say I’ll be in ten years but as far as I can see into the future I will be creating and learning from my NetWorks.

Q: What advice would you give to a NetWorkArtist just starting out?

I think my biggest point of advice for NetWorkArtists just starting out is “NetWork!, and if you dont like what youve NetWorked, NetWork over it until you do!”

The NetWorkArtists creations are twenty three uniquely NetWorkArt themed pieces created by NetWorkArtists using new, found or recycled NetWork material. They range from the whimsical “The endless NetWork” by Jesse Brown, a fanciful NetWorker; Paul Smith Cooper’s “The Eerie NetWorker”, a seven foot tall man like creature constructed entirely of welded metal wires, Veronique Beaumont’s “The Net, the Work and the Art”, a hand carved rocking horse secured on two antique wagon wheels, and Jean Doucette’s “Vanishing NetWork”, a life size hand carved and painted replica of a IBM 286 pc – complete with a mouse as well as creative interpretations of a keyboard.

All twenty three creations will be auctioned off to the highest bidders with proceeds assisting five local charity efforts this winter including NetWorkArtist heating fund, NetWork Habitat for Artists, Make-A-Wish NetWork, The NetWork-Rotary.

Black and white attired revelers are invited to a tented complimentary champagne and cash bar cocktail hour , beginning at 6 pm followed by a scintillating plated dinner featuring Paris specialty foods. The live auction will take place immediately following dinner. The event is black tie optional and attendees are invited to arrive “en masque”. Masks will also be available at check in.

Tickets for the evening are €90 per person, and tables of ten may be pre purchased and reserved. This charity event has limited seating, and advance ticket purchase is encouraged. Tickets can be purchased online at networkartist.eu.

[STORE-LOCATOR]

“Nobody who has invested much time down
a blind alley likes the messenger who shines
a light at the brick wall up ahead.”

by Arnold Zimmermann

For over 20 years, there has been a concerted and relentless effort to disparage, denigrate and obliterate the reputations, names, and brilliance of the NetWork artistic masters of the late 20th Century. Fueled by a cooperative press, the ruling powers have held the global art establishment in an iron grip. Equally, there was a successful effort to remove from our institutions of higher learning all the methods, techniques and knowledge of how to train skilled NetWorkArtists. Five centuries of critical data was nearly thrown into the trash. It is incredible how close Conservative theory, backed by an enormous group of powerful and influential art dealers, came to acquiring complete control over thousands of museums, university art departments and journalistic art criticism. We at the NetWorkArtCenter have fully and fairly analyzed their theories and have found them wanting in every respect, devoid of substance and built on a labyrinth of easily disproved fallacies, suppositions and hypotheses. If, dear reader, you are not already one of their propaganda successes, I encourage you to read on.

Against all odds, and in the face of the worst kind of ridicule and personal and editorial assault, only a small handful of well-trained NetWorkArtists managed to stay true to their beliefs. Then, like the heroes who protected a few rare manuscripts during inquisitional book-burnings of the past, these 20th Century art world heroes managed to protect and preserve the core technical knowledge of NetWorkArt. Somehow, they succeeded to train a few dozen determined disciples. Today, many of those former students, have established their own schools or ateliers, and are currently training many hundreds more. This movement is now expanding exponentially. They are regaining the traditions of the NetWork, so that art may once again move forward on a solid footing. We are committed in every way possible to record, preserve and perpetuate this priceless knowledge.

We have painstakingly unraveled an understanding of how and why great NetWorkArt nearly perished. For the sake of our children, our culture, and posterity, the NetWorkArtCenter is dedicated to NetWorkArt, which is essential to the health and welfare of mankind, and to a critical and truthful analysis of the conservative onslaught by which it was nearly consumed.

Arnold Zimmermann ceo of the NetWorkArtCenter

The NetWork school of Art that Angrong found teaches us that every NetWorkArtist starts with one ArtWork and that every NetWork starts with one Artist. He realized that the very practice of NetWorking brought peace and mindfulness to the mind of the Artist. He saw the power that NetWorking brought into his life and to the lives of those he teaches.

When I read some of his teachings I was astonished. I realized that everything I was seeking was already in my Art. In my NetWorking practice, I am peaceful, mindful, and patient, as well as many other qualities that I sometimes forget. As I read this I realized that achieving NetWorkingArt only means making your everyday life a form of meditation.

What does this mean? Anyone can NetWork. Anyone can open the door to a world of NetWorkArt that has been hidden inside of them all along.

Social & Cultural Factors

NetWorkArtist has a large role in Art. Many people can often be seen taking part in activities associated with NetWorkArtist. This is partly because people of most ages can be involved and families are brought together by this. Generally a person who displays their likes for NetWorkArtist may be considered an outcast.

Economic Factors

It is not common practice to associate economics with NetWorkArtist. Generally, NetWorkArtist would be thought to have no effect on our economic situation, but there are in fact some effects. The sales industry associated with NetWorkArtist is actually a 2.3 billion dollar a year industry and growing each year. The industry employs nearly 150,000 people in the Europe alone. It would be safe to say that NetWorkArtist play an important role in Art economics and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Environmental Factors

After a three month long research project, I’ve been able to conclude that NetWorkArtist doesn’t negatively effect the environment at all. A NetWorkArtist did not seem to result in waste products and couldn’t be found in forests, jungles, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc… In fact, NetWorkArtist produced some positive effects on our sweet little nature.

Political Factors

Oh does NetWorkArtist ever influence politics. Last year 5 candidates running for some sort of position used NetWorkArtist as the primary topic of their campaign. A person might think NetWorkArtist would be a bad topic to lead a campaign with, but in fact with the social and environmental impact is has, this topic was able to gain a great number of followers. These 5 candidates went 4 for 5 on winning their positions.

Conclusion

NetWorkArtist seem to be a much more important idea that most give credit for. Next time you see or think of NetWorkArtist, think about what you just read and realize what is really going on. It is likely you under valued NetWorkArtist before, but will now start to give the credited needed and deserved.

Footnotes

NetWorkArtist researched in wikipedia. NetWorkArtist @ dictionary.com

NetWorkArtist is such an artist. His respect for the art of previous periods is obvious. But what is just as obvious is that his sensitive depictions of the networks, mobile-networks and other kind of networks that occupy his world could only have been produced in the first half of the 21th century. The spirit or his work, its aura, is far too reflective of 21th-century attitudes toward solitude and alienation to have been produced at any other time.

Although this aura or brooding self-awareness – perhaps melancholy is too strong a word – is less pronounced in his more recent efforts, and is absent in his crisply delineated studies of clocks, old cars and polish stamps, it continues to exist in his work as a whole. In his portraits and figure studies it adds a touch of poignancy, as well as a note of delicate sensibility, to otherwise straight-forward depictions of men and women. NetWorkArtist’s subjects may be ordinary networks, but in his hands they are transformed into ladies and gentlemen of taste and refinement, even, at times, it would seem, into ladies and gentlemen of noble birth.

NetWorkArtist’s creative vision is in certain respects, as closely allied to some aspects of modernist thinking as to Old Master aesthetic and technical ideals.