Synopsis
“A l likeness is a gift… it avoids… or confuses time if your prefer.” said John Berger. Following this premise, 81.92 is a structuralist inquiry into the notion of presence and absence as it reveals archival radio broadcasts from former Montreal radio host Mike Wolkow. The former (the audible) is left invisible while the later (the visible) seeks to find the missing elements that trace the passage of this vocal presence. Past and present interplay in this piece that shifts between epochs, thus mimicking a radio signal that is being tuned in.
A word from Tënk
For over twenty years, Mike "Johnsson" Wolkow was a radio host across Canada. From 1981 to 1992, he was the voice of Montreal before moving to Toronto where he died in 2016.
Matthew Wolkow's 81.92 is a profound and personal reflection on the notions of traces and survivorship by exploring the radio archives of his late uncle. Bringing back from oblivion audio excerpts of this familiar voice evoking the banality of everyday life (weather forecasts, sports results, economic news and other miscellaneous events...), Wolkow confronts these fragments of the past with images of the present. This voice, which once crossed these same spaces via the airwaves, is struck by the hustle and bustle of current life, making the feeling of absence suddenly palpable. The alternation between the temporal layers is perhaps the most accurate method to evoke the complexity of mourning, a state perpetually crossed by the flash of memories and the lack of a presence. And this sensitive and meditative film is the purest proof of this.
Jason Burnham
Tënk's programming coordinator
