WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Are Artists Hardwired To Be Poor?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this this is an

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<v Speaker 1>episode from our archives. Today's classic concerns a study that

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<v Speaker 1>digs into the trope of the starving artist? Is there

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<v Speaker 1>anything to it? Sociologically and psychologically? Hi, brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here,

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<v Speaker 1>the image of the starving artist is a well known

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<v Speaker 1>cultural stereotype. But is it simply a stereotype or could

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<v Speaker 1>the brain chemistry of artists actually be responsible for their

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<v Speaker 1>tendency towards poverty. An experiment conducted in Germany raises this

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<v Speaker 1>question and probably the eyebrows of many artists. As reported

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<v Speaker 1>in the April issue of the Creativity Research Journal, the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers sat down twelve artists and twelve non artists and

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<v Speaker 1>gave them colored images to choose from on a screen,

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<v Speaker 1>including green images that provided a cash reward. When the

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<v Speaker 1>green images popped up and were chosen, the non artists

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<v Speaker 1>brains showed a great deal of activity in the pleasure

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<v Speaker 1>area that releases dopamine. Brain scans of the artists showed

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<v Speaker 1>less activity in that dopamine producing area. The researchers concluded

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<v Speaker 1>that the artists were less responsive to monetary rewards than

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<v Speaker 1>other people. It's admittedly a small sample size, but still

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<v Speaker 1>an interesting result. The authors wrote in the paper. These

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<v Speaker 1>results support the existence of characteristic neural traits and artists.

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<v Speaker 1>But do these neural traits mean that all but the

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<v Speaker 1>most successful artists in fact have low earning potential. First

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<v Speaker 1>of all, the poverty of artists may be culturally exaggerated.

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<v Speaker 1>As a group, artists in the United States have higher

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<v Speaker 1>incomes than the average American worker. According to census figures

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<v Speaker 1>analyzed by the National Endowment for the Arts, in the

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<v Speaker 1>medium income for craft and fine art artists in sen

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<v Speaker 1>was a little over forty thou dollars per year, or

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<v Speaker 1>about twenty four dollars per hour, a livable wage by

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<v Speaker 1>most standards. And second, the nature of the art market

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<v Speaker 1>make the life of an artist a bit less fundamentally secure.

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<v Speaker 1>This is explained well in the book Art and Value

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<v Speaker 1>Arts Economic Exceptionalism in Classical, Neoclassical and Marxist Economics by

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<v Speaker 1>painter and professor Dave Beach. He described how the art

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<v Speaker 1>market is different from the market for most other goods.

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<v Speaker 1>Art is not a standard commodity. He wrote, the creation

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<v Speaker 1>of art, as well as the marketing and purchase of art,

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<v Speaker 1>are outside the bounds of the regular market. Art is

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<v Speaker 1>not usually made as a result of corporate investment. Artists

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<v Speaker 1>do not generally get an hourly wage for their labor,

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<v Speaker 1>and the price of art is not set through competition

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<v Speaker 1>in the same way that other products prices are determined.

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<v Speaker 1>The art market is different and it shapes the prices

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<v Speaker 1>artists can set and expect for their labor. Dutch painter

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<v Speaker 1>and sociologist Hans Ebbing explored the mindset as well as

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<v Speaker 1>the socioeconomic forces that lead to what he called the

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<v Speaker 1>admiseration of artists, immiseration meaning economic impoverishment. He said that,

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<v Speaker 1>for one thing, the art market has a winner take

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<v Speaker 1>all attitude, and in addition, artists may not have other

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<v Speaker 1>skills and so remained in the work that they are

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<v Speaker 1>drawn to. He said that artists also find non monetary

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<v Speaker 1>creation based rewards in their work. By the way, a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of perspective, if you earn more than twenty one

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<v Speaker 1>dollars a year, you are part of the richest four

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<v Speaker 1>percent of the planet. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article are artists hardwired for poverty? On house to works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com written by Stell Simonton. Brain Stuff is production

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