1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this this is an 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: episode from our archives. Today's classic concerns a study that 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: digs into the trope of the starving artist? Is there 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: anything to it? Sociologically and psychologically? Hi, brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: the image of the starving artist is a well known 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: cultural stereotype. But is it simply a stereotype or could 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: the brain chemistry of artists actually be responsible for their 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: tendency towards poverty. An experiment conducted in Germany raises this 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: question and probably the eyebrows of many artists. As reported 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: in the April issue of the Creativity Research Journal, the 12 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: researchers sat down twelve artists and twelve non artists and 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: gave them colored images to choose from on a screen, 14 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: including green images that provided a cash reward. When the 15 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: green images popped up and were chosen, the non artists 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: brains showed a great deal of activity in the pleasure 17 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: area that releases dopamine. Brain scans of the artists showed 18 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: less activity in that dopamine producing area. The researchers concluded 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: that the artists were less responsive to monetary rewards than 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: other people. It's admittedly a small sample size, but still 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: an interesting result. The authors wrote in the paper. These 22 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,279 Speaker 1: results support the existence of characteristic neural traits and artists. 23 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: But do these neural traits mean that all but the 24 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: most successful artists in fact have low earning potential. First 25 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: of all, the poverty of artists may be culturally exaggerated. 26 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: As a group, artists in the United States have higher 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: incomes than the average American worker. According to census figures 28 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: analyzed by the National Endowment for the Arts, in the 29 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: medium income for craft and fine art artists in sen 30 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: was a little over forty thou dollars per year, or 31 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: about twenty four dollars per hour, a livable wage by 32 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: most standards. And second, the nature of the art market 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: make the life of an artist a bit less fundamentally secure. 34 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: This is explained well in the book Art and Value 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: Arts Economic Exceptionalism in Classical, Neoclassical and Marxist Economics by 36 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: painter and professor Dave Beach. He described how the art 37 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: market is different from the market for most other goods. 38 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: Art is not a standard commodity. He wrote, the creation 39 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: of art, as well as the marketing and purchase of art, 40 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: are outside the bounds of the regular market. Art is 41 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: not usually made as a result of corporate investment. Artists 42 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: do not generally get an hourly wage for their labor, 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: and the price of art is not set through competition 44 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: in the same way that other products prices are determined. 45 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: The art market is different and it shapes the prices 46 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: artists can set and expect for their labor. Dutch painter 47 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: and sociologist Hans Ebbing explored the mindset as well as 48 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: the socioeconomic forces that lead to what he called the 49 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: admiseration of artists, immiseration meaning economic impoverishment. He said that, 50 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: for one thing, the art market has a winner take 51 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: all attitude, and in addition, artists may not have other 52 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: skills and so remained in the work that they are 53 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: drawn to. He said that artists also find non monetary 54 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: creation based rewards in their work. By the way, a 55 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: bit of perspective, if you earn more than twenty one 56 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: dollars a year, you are part of the richest four 57 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: percent of the planet. Today's episode is based on the 58 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: article are artists hardwired for poverty? On house to works 59 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 1: dot Com written by Stell Simonton. Brain Stuff is production 60 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works 61 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clang and Ramsey Yea. 62 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio is the heart 63 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 64 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: favorite show.