Georgia Lucy

Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip

Advance Australia Fair
Anathematic anthem
Sung generation and nation-wide
Lacking diaphragmatic delivery

In short, the song sucks. Suppose we had options? Suppose we write our own? Guess what? In the ’70s PM Gough Whitlam held an anthem quest to replace God Save the Queen. The Australian people responded eagerly with entries in notation, lyric and tape-recorded form. One newspaper promised national radio play. But all submissions were turfed. Dumpsterdiving the national archives, I found them! The dirty dirges with an urge to be heard, held together by a heavy-duty stationery clip from Gough’s office.

^{_{Gough and Margret’s Bullclip, multimedia installation, The Churchie National Emerging Arts Prize, Metro Arts, Brisbane, QLD, Pic by Katie Bennett, August 2026}}

https://www.indailyqld.com.au/inreview/visual-art/2026/07/29/diverse-stories-expose-emerging-artists-vulnerabilities-in-the-churchie

^{_{Exhibition Review, Louise Martin-Chew, InDaily Qld, 29 July 2026}}

Obsessed, I got swept through Qld floods to sing a re-enacted anthem to dairy cows from my sister’s amplified van. On another occasion, I discovered antique Australian AI content by four humans and one ICL 1904A computer (called Fred).

“We had Fred assist us by generating several hundred mathematical hybrids, or compromises, between the two melodies Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Fair”

Following Fred’s formula, but using anthem entries, I am reanimating a monster mash of my own.

Aim: Produce hand on heart beats from failed anthem entries
Method:

Sample anthems
Load into Koala sampler
Stretch, dissect, loop, treat, set, repeat, sequence
Broadcast on the radio
Feel the liberation

^{_{Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip, interactive performance with Callum Cusick, produced by Awesome Black for Maito Weekender, The Family Hotel, Maitland, NSW, Pics by Teresa Tan, 25 January 2026}}

The mashups will be treated through Ross Hannaford’s 1974 Space Echo unit – after all, anthems come from antiphon… Call and response singing… singing… Is a coo wee an antiphon? An echo bouncing off the walls? When the quest was on Australia was doing the Eagle Rock. I’m hoping Daddy Cool’s Space Echo makes these patriotic pieces less daggy and more dancey.

Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip FM at First Draf

After curious examination
Of The Voice(s) of our nation
(and trying to understand it)
I present my findings

_{^{Snippet from Fred Stylin’, mashup performance with selected anthem quest entries, Recorded live in Dodges Ferry, 45 minutes, February 2026}}

All are invited. Copyright or wrong, Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip FM is a performance of CPR on the composting compositions, giving air to the couldabeens that diva belter Delta might have graced the SCG with. We all stand and sing along, diaphragms expanded.Imagine.

^{_{Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip FM, multi media installation with sound, First Draft, Eora, pics by Jessica Maurer Dec 2025}}

Georgia Lucy, Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip FM, 2025, multimedia installation with sound featuring:
– Bullclip, courtesy of Gough Whitlam’s office
– Ross Hannaford’s Space Echo, crayon drawing on paper
– Gallo Dairy Cheese and Chocolate Stubby Cooler
– Archival Shrapnel People, assemblage, original anthem entry stationery, salvaged speaker magnets, pipes of Woolloomooloo, dimensions variable
– Anthem Antidote, single channel video projection, headphones, 16 minutes
– Untitled, looping video across three screens
– Fred Stylin’, sound installation, radios receiving FM broadcast of mashups of selected national anthem quest entries (mashup created with Callum Cusick) 45 minutes, paper puppets, string, dimensions variable

Gough and Margaret’s Bullclip at Next Wave