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Details
- Date
- 1977
- Media category
- Time-based art
- Materials used
- 16mm film shown as single-channel digital video, colour, sound
- Dimensions
- duration: 00:13:13 min, aspect ratio: 4:3
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by the Patrick White Bequest 2022
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 89.2022
- Copyright
- © Paul Winkler
- Artist information
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Paul Winkler
Works in the collection
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About
Paul Winkler emigrated from Germany to Australia in 1959. Upon arriving in Sydney, Winkler – a bricklayer by trade – attended screenings at the Workers’ Educational Association and devoured books on filmmaking at the Mitchell Library. This self-education inspired an internationally-acclaimed experimental film practice which privileged form, rhythm and materiality over conventional narrative.
From the 1960s onward, Winkler was a leading light for artists’ moving image in Sydney (and Australia) and toured his work extensively across America and Europe. His practice is a unique example of formally innovative, local filmmaking by a working-class artist operating outside the purview of the ‘art world’ proper.
Sydney Harbour Bridge (1977) employs in-camera mattes to discombobulate the iconic bridge into geometric abstractions. To create this effect, Winkler returned to the same vantage at nearby Mrs Macquarie’s point to photograph, rewind, and rephotograph each frame over the course of a winter.
