In an essay commissioned for Curtin University School of Art Degree Show Catalogue (2010), in 'If the Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me!', Kirsten Hudson critiques the pervasive culture of cynicism and emotional detachment that dominates contemporary art discourse. Situating the 2010 Curtin SODA exhibition within this context, she argues that the student works challenge this malaise not through naive optimism or sentimental retreat, but by embracing sincerity, vulnerability, and a palpable love for art-making itself. Drawing on pop culture, classical philosophy, and critical theory, Hudson traces the historical cycles of cultural decline and artistic disillusionment, revealing how cynicism functions today not as critical distance but as a hegemonic force that polices hope and aesthetic engagement. Against this backdrop, the SODA 2010 cohort dares to risk earnestness. Their work navigates the tensions between irony and idealism, critique and care, offering what Hudson frames as a "gift”: a refusal to disavow beauty, pleasure, and creative labour. Rather than being consumed by the nihilistic impulses of the contemporary undead, these emerging artists breathe life back into the possibilities of art. The essay ultimately contends that in a time when even joy and curiosity are viewed with suspicion, the radical act may simply be to live, to make, to feel, and to hope.