What is the source of the power of Pat O'Neill's films? Taking one sequence from Sidewinder's Delta as a starting point, I will examine O'Neill's image construction from a few different angles, including close descriptive analysis, a reading of his work through the philosophical aesthetics of the late Richard Wollheim, and an indication of some unexpected resonances with specific modernist painters and feature filmmakers. The aim is to situate O'Neill's art within a broader aesthetic landscape, to describe the range of experiences it elicits, and to move towards a general comprehension of what makes his cinema work.

Grahame Weinbren is a media artist and filmmaker. His interactive cinema installations are exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, and his films of the 1970s and early 80s, made in collaboration with Roberta Friedman, are preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "The Erl King" (with Roberta Friedman, 1983-5), one of the first works to combine interactivity with cinema, was recently acquired by the Guggenheim Museum.

Weinbren writes about media art, cinema, and the cultural impact of recent technologies. His background is in Philosophy, and he teaches in the graduate division of the School of Visual Arts in New York. He is an editor of the Millennium Film Journal.