Surrounded by a transparent membrane, imitations of cells create an uneven path. Like the materialization of a mental space, this installation specially created for the exhibition by Mark Manders (born in 1968, lives and works in Ronse, Belgium) evokes the artist’s studio but also an archeological excavation site. The viewer imagines the humidity of the clay underneath the tarpaulins even though the sculptures are made of bronze while amputated human figures achieve symbiosis with elements of the architecture. For over twenty years, Mark Manders has been developing a longstanding self-portrait by means of sculpture, installations and architecture. Having himself called his work a “self-portrait as a building”, the artist mixes art historical references – from the solitary edifices of Giorgio De Chirico to the sculptures of young people in Ancient Greece – in order to conceive works that he wishes to see assembled in this building with its blacked-out windows that blends the future into the past.