Temples of Doom is a moving image work that engages the issue of endangered pagoda rock formations and sacred First Nations rock-art sites in the recently announced Gardens of Stone State Conservation area of the Greater Blue Mountains.
The work exposes the irreparable damage caused by Centennial Coal Companies' Angus Place and Mount Airly Mines, as well as the abandoned Baal Bone Colliery. These ancient sandstone and ironstone pagoda structures which took around one million years to form each 8 m of their height, are exhibiting subsidence cracks, and many are completely collapsing due to the tunnelling and extraction of coal 250-300 m directly below the surface. The anthropogenic deterioration of these unique rock structures are also leading to Aboriginal rock art sites situated in caves or under escarpments such as Maiyingu Marragu, at risk of being destroyed.
The title of the work adopts the name of one of the locations of pagodas in the Lidsdale area. Now, ironically and unfortunately, this is becoming a fitting name for the entire area. The title alludes that it's only a matter of time before all of these pagoda landscapes would be destroyed forever.
The work questions the cogency and efficacy of the NSW government's environmental protection 'State Conservation Area' category, which claims to protect a natural area whilst still allowing detrimental mining operations to continue, destroying several million-year-old irreplaceable rock formations and endangering many sacred Aboriginal rock art sites.
