Historically Speaking: The Workings of the Past in a Performance by Olof Olsson

This article sets out to untangle the workings of the past in a performance by Danish-Swedish-Dutch artist Olof Olsson. Leaving behind the official documents of the Danmarks Radio (DR) Archive, Olsson explores the byroads of radio history through a miscellaneous assortment of nugatory documents and objects. The article proceeds as a close reading of aspects of Olsson’s performance using three figures described by Walter Benjamin – the collector, the storyteller and the historian – as points of reference. By tracing out the contours of these figures in Olsson’s performance, I am able to elucidate the subversive potentiality of his digressive narrative.