The Artist - Flash Fiction
- Greg Luti
- Jun 6
- 2 min read
A flash fiction story can explore the tension between personal creation and public legacy. In “The Artist,” Greg Luti follows a pupil who completes a powerful artwork only to reject his teacher’s advice to share it publicly, arguing that true fulfillment comes from creating for oneself rather than seeking fame and remembrance.
A pupil finished up his artwork as his teacher walked over to check on the student’s progress.
“Wow. This is good.” The teacher noted. “I mean, this is really good. Too good.” He looked at his pupil, who stood by the painting. “You made this?” The pupil nodded. “People should see this.” He looked at his pupil. “I hope they remember you.”
“I don’t wish to be remembered.” The pupil looked away from the teacher. “Legacies are for those who wish to sell their lives to history. I don’t want that. I came into this world unknown, and I wish to keep it that way.”
“You don’t want people to talk about you?” The teacher backed away, taken aback by the answer.
“To be a reference they bring up during conversation, a token of culture, a point for others to dissect. I don’t want that.”
“You speak nonsense.” The teacher shook his head. “For how can we appreciate the art without knowing the artist?”
“I don’t care if people ever like my art. I don’t care if they ever appreciate it. I make my art for me and me alone. That is all I wish to do. If the world wishes to remember me, it is because they wished for it to be that way, not me.”
“So what happens when the artist becomes a point of reference, as you call it?”
“He becomes a whore to the information whores in the world. Everyone takes what they want from his life to fit their needs. He becomes a very caricature of what it means to be a human. His life is no more his own, but the world’s.”
The teacher stood silent for a second.
“If you make art, you are to be remembered forever, but not as you wish, for the world will take what they want of your life and make it its own. If you don’t make art, then you are not doing what you were put on this Earth to do. An Achillean problem, if I ever saw it.”
“Yeah, it is why I am hesitant to put my artwork into the gallery.” The pupil admitted.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Achilles not go into battle? If history is to remember you, it is because you were deemed worth remembering. People make your life their own because your life is greater than theirs. Sometimes life has other plans for people, and it is on them to recognize their destiny. Even Achilles could not outrun his fate.”
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