Subscribe now

Mind

The great wonder and strangeness of the human brain

A dazzling exhibition in Lisbon celebrates the most complex of human organs with art that makes the brain sing – as well as revealing how chimps can outsmart us

By Alun Anderson

24 April 2019

gilded representation of brain

Self Reflected: a golden, hyper-real representation of the brain

Self Reflected 22K gilded microetching under white light. Greg Dunn and Brian Edwards. 2014-2016

Cérebro – Mais vasto que o céu/Brain – Wider than the sky, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal, to 10 June

A FEW steps inside the Gulbenkian Foundation’s latest exhibition, a crowd of visitors halts, entranced. There is a faint collective “Wow” as they look up. In a twilight space, an enormous video screen shows a slice of human brain, but with its long, looping pathways and layers of nerve cells shimmering in gold.

Colours change, the viewpoint…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop