Tributaries: Reflections of AIKO SUZUKI (2009)

With this DVD, Midi Onodera has collaborated with three women artists: writer Joy Kogawa, new music composer Ann Southam and visual artist Grace Channer to produce three videos inspired by Suzuki.

Supplementary material includes a biographical profile on Suzuki and interviews with the artist creators of these tributes. Tributaries: Reflections of Aiko Suzuki…

• is user-friendly, designed to let viewers to select content based on their interests.
• contains essays by artist/educator Cindy Mochizuki and arts writer/novelist Kyo Maclear (The Letter, 2007) that reveal the context of the DVD and introduce Aiko Suzuki’s work.
• explores themes that include: contemporary Canadian women artists, feminism, Asian Canadian identity and illness and activism.
• provides insight into several art disciplines, including: new music composition, print-making, video installation, abstract art, and contemporary writing.

Produced with the assistance of The Canada Council for the Arts.

Downloads

Essays

• Arc of Hands, Lines to Aiko: On Tributaries: Reflections of Aiko Suzuki by Cindy Mochizuki (pdf also available on DVD)
• Tributaries by Kyo Maclear

Interview Transcripts

• Interview with Aiko Suzuki and Midi Onodera, Tape 8 [Edited], [Full]
• Interview with Aiko Suzuki and Kerri Sakamoto/Midi Onodera, Tape 21 [Edited], [Full]

DVD Contents

Artists’ Projects

Spatial View of Pond (14:17)

Inspired by a Suzuki painting of the same name, new music composer, Ann Southam’s exquisite, minimal piano work accompanies a lyrical visualization of three of Suzuki’s artworks.

Portrait of the Artist as a Donkey (9:23)

In this video poem, acclaimed writer and poet, Joy Kogawa, pays homage to Suzuki’s life. Shifting between the busy movements of an urban landscape and the graceful textures of nature, this mesmerizing piece is a quiet reflection on living as an artist in contemporary times.

Estuary (4:06)

Visual artist Grace Channer employs digital animation techniques to create visual poetry from Suzuki’s gestural actions. Together with a hauntingly eloquent soundtrack by Chiyoko Szlavnics, “Estuary” is an interchange between stillness and action.

Artist Interviews

Ann Southam (10:36)
Joy Kogawa (10:16)
Grace Channer (10:03)
Chiyoko Szlavnics (8:08)

Aiko Suzuki Biography

In Conversation with Kerri Sakamoto & Midi Onodera (15:13)
Aiko Suzuki: Early Works (28:06)
Midi Onodera Remembering Aiko (12:07)

Credits

Artists’ Projects

Spatial View of Pond

• Written and Performed by: Ann Southam
• Recorded at: Inception Sound Studios, Toronto
• Inspired by the painting “Spatial View of Pond” (1986) by Aiko Suzuki
• Visualization: Midi Onodera
• Artworks: Aiko Suzuki

Portrait of the Artist as a Donkey

• Poem: Joy Kogawa
• Soundscape: Chiyoko Szlavnics
• Photography: Midi Onodera
• Additional subway footage: Lesley Loksi Chan
• Consultant editor: Warren Chinn
• Sound Mixing: Chandra Bulucon, Puppy Machine Productions
• Opening titles: Glenn Parsons
• Composer: Chiyoko Szlavnics
• Musical excerpts from: “Heliotrope” Recorded by: Ostravska Banda,
• “Triptych for AS” performed by Anaïs Chen & Theodor Flindell (violins), Volker Schindel (accordion)
• Visualization: Midi Onodera

Estuary

• Video by Grace Channer in collaboration with Midi Onodera
• Composer: Chiyoko Szlavnics
• “In Air” performed by: Laura Pudwell (soprano), Doug Perry (soloist), David Swan (piano), Trevor Tureski (percussion)
• Recording at: Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto (2000)
• Courtesy of: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Artist Interviews

• Cinematographer: John Marsonet
• Director: Midi Onodera
• Editor: Lesley Loksi Chan
• Consultant Editor: Warren Chinn
• Sound Mixing: Chandra Bulucon, Puppy Machine Productions
• Colour Correction: Todd Hallam, triangle studios

Aiko Suzuki Biography

• Interview & Cinematographer: Midi Onodera
• Hanlan’s Point Cinematographer: Todd Colter
• Hanlan’s Point Crew: Grace Channer, Gene Machida, Janice MacNeil
• Editor: Lesley Loksi Chan
• Director: Midi Onodera
• Consultant Editor: Warren Chinn
• Sound Mixing: Chandra Bulucon, Puppy Machine Productions
• Colour Correction: Todd Hallam, triangle studios