You are NOT an artist
Published January 19, 2026 · 12:01 · 99,889 views
About This Video
Van Neistat fixes a Fisher Space Pen with a Zebra JK Refill G Series Gel 0.7mm cartridge, builds a cutting jig for his son Charlie, and arrives at Tolstoy's definition of art, all in 12 minutes. The question, which 99,889 viewers have sat with: who gets to call themselves an artist?
The pen repair is the spine. The Fisher Space Pen stopped writing. Van's fix: swap the proprietary cartridge for a Zebra JK Refill, a $4 gel ink that fits if you trim it. The modification is small and the lesson underneath it is not. Fixing what you own, adapting parts across brands, refusing to throw away a good tool because one component failed. This is the tools and craft posture applied to a pen.
The art question enters through John Baldessari. Baldessari once held up a pencil and told his students that it had made more art than everyone in the room combined. The pencil does not call itself an artist. The point is about output, not identity. Van connects this to Leo Tolstoy's What Is Art?, where Tolstoy defines art as the transmission of feeling from one person to another. Not technique. Not credentials. Feeling, transmitted. If the viewer receives it, the thing is art. If not, it is decoration.
The video moves through a Tom Sachs cabinet, a Jules Bastien-Lepage painting of Joan of Arc, Charles Eames, and a Bobby Neuwirth story about Bob Dylan. Each reference lands the same thesis from a different angle. The carpenter who builds the cabinet is an artist if the cabinet transmits feeling. The painter who paints Joan of Arc is an artist for the same reason. The word "artist" belongs to the work, not the worker.
Charlie's cutting jig gets built between the philosophy. Van constructs it for his son the way Tom Sachs built systems for Van: by handing someone a tool and letting the tool teach. The video is sponsored by BetterHelp.
What Van Uses: Fisher Space Pen (modified with aftermarket ink), Zebra JK Refill G Series Gel 0.7mm (the replacement cartridge, trimmed to fit). Both featured in the A Fix segment tradition.
Related: The Definition of Art, The Reward for Good Work Is More Work (Tom Sachs mentorship), I Spent 1,600 Hours Typing Other Writers' Books.
FAQ
How do you fix a Fisher Space Pen that stopped writing?
Van Neistat replaces the proprietary Fisher cartridge with a Zebra JK Refill G Series Gel 0.7mm. The Zebra refill needs to be trimmed to fit the Space Pen body. The result is a better-writing pen using a $4 cartridge that is widely available.
What is Tolstoy's definition of art?
In What Is Art?, Tolstoy defines art as the transmission of feeling from one person to another. The artwork succeeds if the viewer receives the feeling the artist experienced. Technique, reputation, and credentials are irrelevant to this test. Van uses this definition as the foundation of the video's argument.
What does John Baldessari's pencil story mean?
Baldessari held up a pencil and told his students it had made more art than everyone in the room combined. The point: the pencil does not call itself an artist. Art lives in the output, not the identity of the person holding the tool. Van extends this to argue that "artist" describes work, not a person.
Transcript
This episode is about fixing a pen, but it's not really about fixing a pen. It's about what is art. I've spent a lot of time perfecting what
I like in my wallet. After years of troubleshooting, Charlie has the nearly perfect pen notebook/wallet situation. He's got the
right sized pen, but the Fiser Space Pen ink sucks. So, he's replaced the Fiser [music] Space Pen ink cartridge with his
favorite ink cartridge, the JK Refill G Series Gel Refill [music] Black 8.7mm medium point, aka Zebra.
And the problem is when he cuts the Zebra ink cartridge down to fit the space pen housing, it's too short when
it comes out the barrel of the space pen. So he shims the Zebra refill with paper, but the paper is too soft. And
eventually when Charlie has been writing for a bit, the zebra cartridge compresses the paper too much and the
pen tip recesses too far into the space pen barrel, inhibiting writing. Oh, just you wait. It gets even more
nerdier and in the weeds than this. The zebra cartridge must be cut at an angle to allow air into the reservoir less the
reservoir gets choked, which stops the flow of ink to the ball point. And he can't write. So, what we need to do is
make the pen tip protrude from the housing by an additional eighth of an inch. That's it. That's the fix. This
much. This much. And I get it. I'm with Charlie. eighth of an inch is worth the repair. I don't really understand the problem. I
don't get it. I don't get what the problem is. Why he doesn't just cut it the right length. Or is the problem
cutting at the right length? Now, is this eighth of an inch a primadonna problem or an artist problem or neither
or both? I argue that this eighth of an inch problem is an artist problem. This episode is in part about feelings, about
the good kind of feelings, the kind we seek. But sometimes acting on our feelings can get us into a lot of
trouble. And before therapy, I had no idea that I wasn't supposed to act on my feelings and nearly destroyed my life
basically annually because I didn't even really know that I was supposed to make rational decisions as well as emotional
decisions. Therapy has taught me both how to get into a calm state before making important decisions and how to
avoid making bad decisions because I'm in a heightened emotional state. Don't act out of anger. Don't act out of
hunger. Eat something, exercise, run heavy situations by my therapist before I act. BetterHelp has been a great
supporter of this channel and is the sponsor of this episode. BetterHelp can connect you to a licensed therapist who
is trained to listen and give you helpful, unbiased advice. Fill out a questionnaire and BetterHelp matches you
with a therapist in as little as a couple of days. And you can easily switch therapists anytime at no extra
cost if the fit's not right. Click the link in the description or go to betterhelp.com/vanistat and get 10% off your first month of
therapy. Thank you, BetterHelp. And the reason I argue that this eighth of an inch problem is an art problem
is because John Baldesari, this is John Baldesari's pencil. This is John Baldesar's chair. This is what John Baldesari sees when he
sits at his desk. This is a film about John Baldesari, the artist. My buddies Re and Henry and Max made
this video about John Baldesari and you should watch it because it's great. John Baldesari was great and he was an
artist. And I'm going to tell you what made him an artist. Wasn't because he was rich and famous. Wasn't because of the shows and awards.
Wasn't because of the dots or his cremation of 13 years of his paintings. What made John Baldesari an artist among
other things is that John Baldesari made this. I had this old pencil on the dashboard of my car for a long time. Every time I
saw it, I felt uncomfortable since its point was so dull and dirty. I always intended to sharpen it and finally
couldn't bear it any longer and did sharpen it. I'm not sure, but I think that this has something to do with art.
Now a sharp pencil doesn't make Baldesari an artist. The feeling he gives me when I [music] read the pencil
story makes him an artist. I feel the same way about that pencil. Baldesari [music] transmitted that feeling to me. And according to Mr.
Toltoy, [music] art is the transmission of feeling the artist [music] has experienced. Sounds easy, but only a few can do it.
Oh, wait. Oh, they're two different diameters. So, this one goes shallower because it gets stopped by the cone
shape. This one goes deeper into the cone. Therefore, it doesn't come out as far. And it doesn't even protrude out the
end. So you got to take a little wedge of paper or duct tape. Charlie used duct tape. And you stick it in there. And now
it comes out the right amount. It's a cutting problem. He's not cutting it the right. Charlie had been cutting the
zebra cartridge to the same length as the space pen cartridge, but the skinny zebra cartridge needs to be longer
because it goes deeper into the housing. I know what to I know what to do. I know what to make. I know what [music] to
make. I know an artist. He made [music] this. I'm in there. [music] Maybe Tom Saxs wasn't teaching me only
[music] how to make things those decades ago. Maybe he was also teaching me how to be an artist. A lot of artists in the cabinet. [music]
Charles Emmes is in there. An artist is a title that you earn and that uh it's a little embarrassing to
hear people refer to themselves as artist. It's like referring to themselves as a genius. An artist is a title that you earn. And
it's a little embarrassing to hear people refer to themselves as artist. It's like referring to themselves as a
genius, which people do nowadays, [music] which is very tacky and embarrassing. And the reason it's embarrassing to refer to yourself as
[music] artist is because Jonavar, a painting [music] called Jon of Arc, my favorite painting. I used to visit it every [music] Sunday.
I see and feel a moment of divine inspiration [music] when I look at this painting. I've felt that before looking at this
painting and I feel it again when I see this painting. But when we refer to ourselves as artist, we steal this
painter's valor. I do what he does. I'm an artist. I'm just like him. Aren't I great? It's a little embarrassing to say
we're like this great painter, this artist, Jeeel Bastian Laage. Jee Bastian Leage. I know what to I know what to do. I know
what to make. I know what to make. And the way it works is you put this in here and then you take a knife, a razor,
and you just cut along this and it'll be the perfect length. Oh, perfect. Perfect. A lot could go wrong with that.
Yes. And that's your finger. And it's that's the slice right there. You just take your knife and chunk. And to get it
out, you just push like this. The cabinet is not a collection of artists. It's a collection of advisors
like the presidential cabinet. Secretary [music] of this, Secretary of that, advisors. This is Tom Sax's 2014
cabinet. Some of which is artists. The cabinet transmits feeling to me. Maybe a little vanity, maybe a little
narcissism, but there's something else that's stronger, a very lovely feeling. [music] And it's the feeling I think of
contributing a verse. Small but significant. It's a cutting problem. He's not cutting it the right. I know what to I know what
to do. I know what to make. I know what to make. If I can transmit that aha feeling to Charlie, the aha feeling I
experienced when I figured out the solution to this problem. Then this rig is [music] art. Oh, perfect. Perfect. A lot can go wrong
with that. It's art to at least Charlie and me anyway. Let me just get something to focus on. So, I made you here and I'll show you
how it works. This is [laughter] here. It's a cutting jig. Oh, I see. You see how it works? Yes. So, you put it all the way here and you
hold it with your thumb and then you take the razor just on that perfect angle. This is incredible. I cannot believe the
brain that you have. I just can't believe that this is like how you It's remarkable. and just precious to have
man this my favorite artist in the world. I just Oh man, I hope you love it. Sweet, man. This is good.
Maybe this video that you're watching transmits [music] my feeling. Or maybe I'm just embarrassing myself.
Charlie found me on our Patreon. It's where I interact with the audience. Click this to join. There's 5 years of content on there. It's the alternative universe to the YouTube channel.
Products & Tools Mentioned
- BetterHelp mentions — sponsor
- Fisher Space Pen uses — pen discussed
- Zebra JK Refill G Series Gel (0.7mm) uses — pen refill
People Referenced
John Baldessari, Leo Tolstoy, Tom Sachs, Charles Eames, Bobby Neuwirth, Bob Dylan, Jules Bastien-Lepage
Books Mentioned
- central to episode's thesis on art (by Leo Tolstoy)