So much of what art is is reflection; looking back at the generations past and weighing the meaning of that work against one’s own. What does it mean to be significant? How can students hope to measure up to what came before? Is there a distinct direction in which the art of today is aiming for or is aimlessness the hope?  Ghosts crowd the halls of significance as present generations hope to squeeze into the shoes of distant giants.

According to Fresno City College student artist Nicole Plummer, the artists of the past are not meant to be used to measure one’s own value; they are used as a source of inspiration. A valuable outline that can be used to carve out one’s own future. Plummer said,

“We [modern artists] are only able to do everything that we want because of those extremists…I have a lot of respect for that. Its good to learn and know where it all comes from.”

Plummer spoke of a desire to create for the sake of creation; that no matter how bleak the surrounding world may appear to be there is always solace in creating. Within this creation-based desire, there appears to be an inherent hope to be remembered for the work produced after death.

Plummer said “I often keep myself awake at night wondering if there will be anything left of what I make or what I’ve done. A lot of people wonder that you know, what’s going to happen when you’re gone?”

It appears that this desire is built on the hope of creating a legacy; something that will be left behind that will raise questions about existence and more importantly, force the future to recognize that that artist existed.

Plummer said “I like to think that some day in the future when people are uncovering stuff that our civilization [left behind], somewhere in the ground there will be some piece of my art and they will ask ‘what did this mean?’”

There is something disheartening and yet uplifting to the hope of being remembered in death.  If this hope is the ultimate goal of young artists, can it be said that death is a desire? Or perhaps it’s a fear of death that drives this thinking—a hope that some part of oneself might be taken and made into an iconic myth. Despite this however, Plummer remains hopeful.

“I’m just doing what I like to do. I don’t want to be that person who is miserable with their life,” said Plummer. “I want to do something that I like and be happy about it.”