Bondi

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.

Bondi (1979) employs in-camera matting to divide images of the beach, water, sky and sand into alternating horizontal bands. Seen today, the work appears like a premonition of climate apocalypse, with waves lapping at Bondi’s shopfronts. Like Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi offers a striking vision of the ‘Sydney tourist postcard’ exploded.