This paper explores cultural imaginaries in projects dedicated to the design of human-like machines. Working with discussions of mimesis as developed by anthropologists Michael Taussig [1] and Alfred Gell [2], I look at some exemplary realizations of 'socially intelligent' robots, proposing an approach aimed at demystifying and reenchanting such encounters. This alternative is developed through a close analysis of a project at the intersection of computing and new media art, performance artist Stelarc's Prosthetic Head. Drawing on recent discussions within cultural anthropology, science and technology studies, and feminist theory, I offer some suggestions for how we might differently conceptualize relations between humans and computational machines.