Bing Bang Ring Museum Activation

Bing Bang Ring – Cash is King! is a project that allowed me to bring together my love of art, my connection to Dungog, and my interest in the stories that everyday objects can tell. When I was invited to create a body of work for the exhibition area at the Dungog Museum, I knew I wanted to respond to something local – something that spoke to the rhythms of daily life in this town. I was immediately drawn to a beautiful pre-decimal currency cash register that had originally been used in Skillen & Oglivie’s grocery store on Dowling Street. It was full of character and history, and I could almost hear the "bing bang ring" of the till echoing through the shop. That sound – and the central role the cash register played in local trade – inspired both the title of the project and the direction my artwork would take.

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I began by collecting archival photos of objects and goods that would have been for sale in local stores around the time the register was in use. I then reimagined these objects as bold Pop Art posters, using colour and scale to give them new life and energy. Alongside these, I sourced old photographs of Dungog shopfronts and interiors to help ground the work in a real place and time – bringing viewers back to the town’s vibrant commercial past. Through this project, I wanted to celebrate the everyday: the shop counters, the goods, the exchange of coins and conversation.