The motif of the butterfly is featured prominently in a number of Rebecca Horn's kinetic sculptures. The butterfly’s life cycle, which entails a striking shift in form, is a potent metaphor for transformation, rebirth, and the cycles of life. Der Traum des Chinesen (2006) consists of a lone butterfly perched atop a slender brass rod encased in transparent plexiglass. A stone lies on the bottom of the enclosure and a delicate branch extends beyond its confines to rest atop the enclosure. The delicate butterfly wings, however, are driven by motor power and move mechanically and artificially, tinging this dreamy image with a melancholic heaviness.

Horn engages ever-changing metaphors that touch on mythical, historical, literary, and spiritual imagery. Der Traum des Chinesendirectly refers to the famous "Butterfly Dream" parable by Chuang-Tzu, who dreamed he was a butterfly and could not tell whether he was dreaming or the butterfly was dreaming he was Chuang-Tzu. Similarly, Horn’s bringing together different natural forms gestures towards a dreamlike interrelatedness—whether of animal, mineral, or plant life—as well as a kind of permeability between interior and exterior space.