Determined by head and limbs, Horst Antes' cephalopod appears enigmatic. He confronts the viewer like a freely invented hieroglyph of human form. He hides himself. The actual sense of this art figure consists in the construction of an autonomous system, in which no borders are set to the fantasy, and with whose assistance one can hold discourse with itself.
In 1964, the cephalopod has finally risen to the sole theme and motif of his paintings, to which all other elements are subordinated. Also in the picture "Still Life with Interior" the cephalopod dominates the composition, although he is withdrawn in color and pushed into the background. The cephalopod puts the individual still life elements in relation to each other and "holds" them together.
The mythical aspect of the connection of existence plays a special role for Antes. If the head or cephalopod shows personal experiences and the individual realms of experience, its "houses" preserve mythical ideas of the world. For Antes, the myths of the Hopi Indians of North America come to the fore here.