TELEFUNKEN AM/FM Alarm Clock Radio

Object Domicile

Bottom drawer, Cream Cupboard
8 Wens Road Crawford

Object Origin

Melotronics in Athlone Circa 1980s – 1990s

The Telefunken company was founded in Germany in 1903, and specialised in radio and television apparatus. This radio was made to provide entertainment in the 1980s/90s. It was used as bed-side communication device which was used to listen to the news, stories and music. My mother further elaborated on this by explaining that it was common to listen to poetry readings, storytelling and discussions over the radio, since there was no television.

The power of this object lies in its most Delicate Parts. To find a good quality of sound and reception, one needs to manoeuvre a thin chord with tiny wires spilling out of its ending. This requires lifting your arm high above your head, or far below your knee.

A tiny cream room, overwhelmed by 2 single beds with thick duvets and thicker mustard curtains envelop a 16-year old.


“Nothing comforts me more than listening to the late night sorry tunes playing on RSG, and your deep hypnotising breaths. This is where you’re relaxed, so I accept and enjoy what others would find the most unfortunate circumstances.

The gloomy yellow light battling to be seen through the dusty lamp-shade reminds me of your battle with the monster calling your body its home ”

This curation is inspired by a modest poem written by myself at 16-years old, a memory held dear to me.

The distorted bed sizes accompanied by a warm light-bulb and a silent radio, flashing the time in red, is an attempt to evoke a vague memory, only re-ignited by a poem written years ago. A room-divider, emblematic of separation, is lined with a transparent netting, defeating its purpose. The atmosphere in the bedroom was palpable. My terminally-ill grandmother lying limp just an arm’s length away from me has remained imprinted in my mind.

In this curation, I evoke a sense of the atmosphere in the bedroom and even more the distorted and fragmented memory I have of it.


Pippa Skotnes Martin Wilson Stanley Amon Contribute information to this page