Is Art Work?

When your most meaningful labor happens outside of working hours.

Famously disgruntled and dead writer Kurt Vonnegut in his writing studio in New York City.

Words from the Wise

"For an artist, there are just two ways to go: to push toward the limit of your capacity, or to sit back and emit garbage."

Ursula le Guin, The Language of the Night¹

Useful Trivia

Neuroaesthetics is the study of how the human brain processes art. Its formal definition is “the scientific study of the neural bases for the contemplation and creation of a work of art.” The term was coined by British-French neurobiologist Semir Zeki in 1999. There are currently two North American universities with centers dedicated to the field: the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income of an artist or craftworker in May 2023 was $48,060. California, Maryland, Georgia, New Jersey, and Texas are the top five states for employing artists.

Arguably the best country in the world for pursuing a creative career is Ireland, which has a tax exemption for the first €50,000 earned by writers, composers, visual artists, and sculptors from the sale of their work.

For Your Ears and Eyes

Even if you don’t read what’s next, watch this performance from Sacramento funkster The Philharmonik, who has been making and posting music for years but did not get his big break until winning the 2024 NPR Tiny Desk Contest.

Mull it Over

Being from a family of men who work with their hands—who can fix cars, rewire houses, and make sure your toilet flushes—has made me a harsh critic of my own labor, which involves mostly typing.

As early as I can remember, my dad came home tired and dirty, ready for a hot shower and a home-cooked meal. That is the image I still associate with being a real man. And though I realized early on in my life that I would never become one, I at least imagined working a job that would require me to wear a suit and tie and make the kinds of important decisions that improve livelihoods for my fellow man.

I’ve written a lot about the careers I thought I might have as a boy. Between the ages of 17 and 25, I dreamed of being a missionary preacher in a foreign country, a soccer coach, a musician, and a journalist chasing epic stories for magazines that either no longer exist or now employ AI to write all their articles.