The Task Of Art

I ran across this video of Jorge Luis Borges which is a clip from an interview with him. I like how he envisions the task of art and the job of an artist.

I also enjoy what he says at the end about being a writer. To paraphrase:

The life of a writer is a lonely life, but one day you wake up to realize you are surrounded by invisible friends that you will never know but all love you.

I think this is how a lot of creative workers be they artists, musicians, scientists, or craftsmen can perceive the world. They do their creative work alone or in small teams but the impact of their work can or may be far reaching and as such they know that they have touched some peoples lives but they will know very few if any of them on a personal basis.

The love for what they do is so great, I like to think, that their love is shared or transferred to those that use/observe/listen to their work. Is there no greater self indulgence than to have others enjoy your creative output?

Check it out for yourself: