© Esther Johnson

15th Art Division Jury Selections

Analogue Kingdom

Video work

Esther JOHNSON

Outline

This poetic portrait depicts the life of Gerald Wells, the world’s preeminent wireless fanatic and the founder of the British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum. Gerald stole his first radio, a Belmont, in 1943 at the age of thirteen. He was immediately sent to an ‘approved’ school, whose psychiatrist diagnosed “an obsession with wireless and electricity” – an obsession that continues today. The house he was born in, and still inhabits, is now home to over 1,500 wireless objects and 45,000 valves. This charming creative documentary reveals Gerald’s world which is interwoven with the fascinating history of radio.