There is so much history and beauty in rural Australia. Murrayville, where I live, has the old Reed Street shops. They are a beautiful reminder of the history of the town, with such varied stories of each shop. Nowadays there is no café, no newsagents, no butchers or blacksmiths — nothing. Only a chemist that opens two and a half days a week. It would be really sad to see these buildings go, as I know they are the only things really left for the history of the town I call home. Once they are gone, there is no way of getting them back.
The old hairdresser’s shop has a wonderful display of memorabilia curated by the Yard family. This was my initial inspiration. So I set out to see if it was possible to revamp the other shops, and I was ecstatic that the owners agreed and let me do this.
With items from the old Murrayville hospital, the local theatre director Dr. Finn, and I started by revamping the Chemist window. We got the keys, and we raided it from the local museum — old crates, medicines, pans, syringes, dishes, and crutches. Even an old saw, which I’d hate to ask what it was used for. After completing this store front, that’s when I decided to extend the project to the other shops as well. I do a lot of work in reality for my artwork, for almost a decade, so I knew how to create a 3D reality on a 2D device.
The museum had a lot of photos to choose from, and that was a great place to start to tell the town’s history. At first, the community had no idea what I meant by augmented reality, so I set about making a mock-up. Once they saw what it was about, people started bringing me old photos, letters, even family handwritten stories. Currently, I’m recording some stories about the good old days by the vibrant elderly. It became a shared act of remembering — a collaboration between the past and present. The AR may be digital, but the heart of it is entirely local.
I’ve spent many hours down on this street with my laptop, tweaking and making small changes. One day, a couple pulled up, travelling through from Tasmania to WA. They told me they loved the old architecture and found it sad how many places are going by the wayside. They got stuck peering through the window at the various items in the chemist, joking about possibly needing the 50+ year old snake venom if they wandered into the bush. I asked them if they could try the AR. Mind blown, they wandered up and down the footpath of the shops for another 30 minutes. This was a great encouragement for me to seek even more local input and to continue the project.
History and restoration are an important part of my life. I previously worked with Historic Houses in Sydney, creating historical soft furnishings, so I know how important it is to document one’s surroundings, stories, and techniques. Now Murrayville is documented with one of the latest technologies, AR. It was a way to preserve what was once here, to let people see and feel the stories behind these façades.
Murrayville now has three AR start points — the Reed Street Shops, the Old Post Office, and opposite the Murrayville Pub on the Mallee Highway. Make your way and search for the QR codes to start your AR historical Murrayville journey. All you need is a charged smartphone.
There’s joy in repetition. In my inked lotus works, each mark becomes a form of meditation when I paint. It is rhythm and stillness intertwined.
There’s joy in repetition. In my inked lotus works, each mark becomes a form of meditation when I paint. It is rhythm and stillness intertwined.
In February I taught the South Australian Governor hand printing at the Mallee Tourist and Heritage Centre in Pinnaroo.
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