ABSTRACT The installation Mirror Brain was developed by artist Elisabeth Weissensteiner and neurobiologist Dorothea Brückner at the University of Bremen, Germany, where it was launched. The installation, a contemporary work of hybrid art, establishes a philosophical play with viewers-turned-actors rather than an interpretation of neuroscience. Thus it provides a metaphor—a mirro—for the role of neurobiology in science and in art. Based on the project, this paper elaborates on how artistic and scientific depiction differ from each other.

ABSTRACT Wolkenkuckucksheim is a site-specific interactive computer installation created for the Cognitive Systems Group at the University of Bremen, Germany. It was conceived and implemented by the authors: an artist interested in the syntax of space and the semantics of materials, and a cognitive scientist investigating the cognitive implications of ubiquitous computing. The project unites the artistic approach of creating metaphors and the scientific approach of theoretical inquiry. In this essay, artist and scientist show in a dialogical manner how art and science gain complementary insights by working with the same cognitive tools.