Quadro Nuevo and Academy students on the trail of the “Odyssey” – Munich

A white canister, a gray net of empty plastic bottles, all tied to a thin wooden stick. “I discovered that while snorkeling,” says Mulo Francel. He’s still wondering if it’s a lifebelt that someone put together for his dangerous escape across the Mediterranean. So, did life literally cling to the object? Or whether it served as a buoy for fishermen? Or is it simply the rubbish of our civilization that has become a ready-made? In any case, Francel brought it with her, this mute thing, which is now allowed to tell stories in an exhibition in the Pasinger factory. True, untrue, half-true, from an unusual voyage in the summer of ’21 that led to the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily. A windjammer cruise in the wide wake of the mega-myths of antiquity, in the footsteps of Odysseus.

It often becomes banal when big thoughts shrink into action. But here embarrassments are successfully circumnavigated, because errors and confusion are expressly incorporated into this elaborate exhibition, photo, music and discussion project, for which the Pasing factory offers a safe haven. Mulo Francel, saxophonist, clarinetist and captain of the world music band Quadro Nuevo, had invited to this Argonaut trip. More than 30 travelers, along with his musicians and accomplices from other creative worlds, such as a brain researcher, a Homer specialist with a command of ancient Greek, a crime writer and a yoga master, embarked on a search for knowledge and, above all, sound. The latter led to the new Quadro Nuevo album “Odyssey – A Journey Into The Light”. The former provides plenty of flotsam for an epic illustrated exhibition on two floors.

Emergency blanket as Golden Fleece

The show begins, very decoratively and with subtle understatement, in the factory bar. On the scarlet and petrol-colored walls, the photographers Mike Meyer, René van der Voorden, Robert Kainar and Annette Hempfling show the barren beauty of the volcanic island world in the Tyrrhenian Sea in calm images. Stromboli, Vulcano and Lipari – places of longing for those who stayed at home in Corona times. And often seen in the background: the old brigantine “Florette” on which the tested Odyssey Bubble traveled. Then in the atrium, the other part of the factory restaurant “Cantina”, it becomes clear how closely Mulo Francel studied the Homeric logbook and what his crew got involved with. In addition to sipping white wine and sun, there was a re-enactment of the ancient world of (demigods) at supposedly authentic locations. Everyone had to fulfill their assigned role, whether dressed in thrown white tablecloths or professionally costumed like in a sandals film: For the camera, Icarus falls off the rock, Poseidon (Mulo Francel) emerges from the lake with a dead one Octopus as dreadlocks, and Penelope, who can only help yoga retreats while waiting for the husband. What looks like fun among friends was hard work, says Annette Hempfling, who had to choose from thousands of photos. You believe her, but the fun factor still shines through in the photos.

The Odyssey exhibition takes a well-curated route through the factory. The next anchor point is the small gallery room 3 on the first floor, where the ready-made canister sits in a corner and an emergency blanket, like the one in every first-aid kit, is piled up like a golden fleece. Here everything is brought together, the ancient saga contacts the present. Free, associative connections between the motifs emerge, the world behind the pictures comes to light. Circe, for example, is no longer standing on her lock rock, but on a heap of bulky waste. Thoughts about migration, climate change or pollution of the seas arise. And all of this becomes audible in the music by Quadro Nuevo, which rushes into the smartphone via QR codes on the walls. Or a Making-of video accompanied by all the protagonists stepping out of their frozen photo poses.

Maze with check-in

Has Odysseus finally arrived? No. He just heaved to deeper water with other travelers. Originally they wanted to do their class excursion to Japan last year, Professor Albert Hien and his students from the Academy of Fine Arts. Difficult to impossible in Corona times. At the suggestion of Thomas Linsmayer, a member of the Francel crew who was familiar with the area, factory curator and currently interim director at the Deutsches Theater, they also embarked for Sicily. But unlike the Quadro Nuevo circle of friends, the ancient epic became the starting point for a completely free, space-related game for the students, which first of all demands from the visitors what travel – or escape – involves: waiting, being tolerant like Penelope .

In the installation by Elias Barnreiter, Sophia Lubin and Madeleine Ritter, check-in takes place in the large gallery space through narrow, tapeworm-like barrier tapes. Past stormy monitors and sulphur-puffing fragrance dispensers, one works one’s way to the gate of a dark cave in which “erring”, as the Academy show is titled, losing oneself, finding oneself again is declared to be the actual form of existence. Flickering lights lure visitors in, like dastardly wreckers trying to capsize ships, accompanied by seductive siren song (Diellza Hetemi). A walk-in wooden room (Nils Hampe) seems to override all the laws of gravity, a carpet made of interwoven nylon stockings (Miriam Ensslen and Antonia Lippert) pulls the thread to Penelope’s Webelist. You can’t find secure footing anywhere, even the vibration under the soles of your feet when walking across a forest floor (Simone Scharlach) is just an illusion. Everyone can embark on their own odyssey here, which is frightening and immensely enjoyable at the same time.

“Odyssey – A Journey into the Light” / “Irren”, an exhibition, photo and discussion project, Pasinger Fabrik, August-Exter-Straße, until March 6th. More about the program below www.pasinger-fabrik.de.