Yet, it's also something that I'm desperate to hold onto.

It's going, ya know, the lights are going out.

So I'm struggling to hold onto the light.

I was in art school in '79, and the eye doctor said,

"Mr. Erra, you have an eye disease.

"You will be blind in 20 years."

And I said, "what?"

You're telling me this bad news,

I'm gonna make the best art I can ever make.

God dammit, you know, I'm gonna do it.

I see very bright lights, and I can't see dim light at all.

I've never seen a star in my whole life.

For example, I was looking at that view towards Manhattan.

What I see is a very small area,

maybe about half the size of my thumb,

and all around that it's not black,

it's not white, it's not grey, it just doesn't exist.

That's how I see everything else is just nonexistence.

There are a number of visually impaired visual artists now

and we do have a facet in the art world.

(mystical upbeat music plays)

Light painting is a process where you use your mind

as much as your eyes.

It's very long time exposure made in

a darkened room with a flashlight.

The person will be there and I will turn off the lights,

and wherever I don't paint with the flashlight,

it'll be black in the picture.

The fear I have about blindness is very strong.

It's the feeling that

my life will not be worthwhile if I can't see.

But, as a totally blind person,

I will still be able to do the light painting.

So, it is a comfort to know that my work is strong, uh,

even though maybe in the future I won't be able to see it.