Rudolph Arnheim

‘If we had wished to begin with the first causes of visual perception, a discussion of light should have proceeded all others, for without light the eyes can observe no shape, no colour, no space or no movement. But light is more than just the physical cause of what we see. Even psychologically it remains one of the most fundamental and powerful of human experiences, an apparition understandably worshiped, celebrated, and importuned in religious ceremonies. To man as to all diurnal animals, it is the prerequisite for most activities. It is the visual counterpart of that other animating power, heat. It interprets to the eyes the life cycle of the hours and the seasons.’ (Rudolph Arnheim)