When I speak of artistic universals, I am not denying the enormous role played by culture. Obviously culture plays a tremendous role, otherwise you wouldn't have different artistic styles - but it doesn't follow that art is completely idiosyncratic and arbitrary, either, or that there are no universal laws.

Everyone knows that metaphors are important, yet we have no idea why.

You can't just take an image and randomly distort it and call it art - although many people in La Jolla where I come from do precisely that.

Vilayanur S. Ramachandran Quotes