Oursler was one of the artists invited to Ekeberg in 2010 by the art committee to develop a proposal for a site-specific artwork for the park. He was inspired by Ekeberg’s rich historical layers. The rock carvings, cup-marks and burial mounds are forms of communication from the past and he wanted to connect this with the history of the Nordic countries as trailblazers in telecommunication. He made not one - but three proposals for the park, each with titles and descriptions recognizable as data technology terms. The three works trace a multi-platform of communication with each other. It starts with Klang showing visual language formations; then Spectral Power—coded spoken information; and Cognitive & Dissonance—an imprint of the messages that the other works try to communicate. They make up a Son et Lumière; a sound and light production shown in places of historic significance.

Cognitive & Dissonance can only be seen and heard at dusk in autumn and winter. Living images of large faces and symbols are projected against two different treetops. The tree crowns give an exciting surface structure and the images alternate. The two projections seem to be in dialogue with each other. The audience must stand in a specific spot close by to hear the sound that belongs to the work. The voices you hear talk incoherently and in snippets, and it is often difficult to distinguish the words. The title refers to the term for an uncomfortable condition stemming from cognitive conflict—the difference between expectations and the experienced reality.