Otino Corsano's "NORTH YORK" 2013

Working alongside commercial directors, professional actors, contemporary dancers and composers, new genre artist and Willowdale resident Otino Corsano has created a trilogy of art videos collectively titled “North York”, 2013 for Paola Polleto's "Oh Dear" group exhibition. This collection of thirty-second ‘commercials’ depicts the lifestyle of living in the City of Toronto’s most northern edge as a contemporary Arcadia. 

"North York" Trilogy, © Otino Corsano, 2013 Production Credits 

Otino Corsano's "NORTH YORK", 2013 runs during regular hours from July 2 to August 26, 2013 just past the tickets booths inside the main entrance of the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Toronto Centre for the Arts, Location Photo © Otino Corsano, 2013

Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge St, Toronto

http://ohdearnorthyork.blogspot.ca

http://ohdearnorthyork.blogspot.ca/2013/05/otino-corsano.html

Drawing from a retrospective realm of nostalgic idealism, Corsano brings motion to dreamlike memory stills of his inner city hometown. Accordingly, the municipal zone of Willowdale becomes a narrative where the daily lives of couples and individuals are choreographed as new visual documents. The classic yet fading medium of the television commercial is activated and altered as an art format. Here, lifestyle/travel advertising aesthetics shed sales slogans to reveal timeless suburban tranquillity.

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I would like to thank Paola Poletto for this wonderful opportunity to work with her again. Many in the arts community talk about artist-supportive curators and Paola is this idealism in practice as it would have been difficult to find the potential to create this series in any other curatorial milieu. This series would never have been created without Paola's vision to present a North York - focussed art discourse so I am indebted to her for creating the stage for this project. Carina Samuels' help with the marketing and organization of this exhibition is greatly appreciated.

The first creative artist I approached with my early concept was Collin McKelvey. I was unprepared to listen to the mysterious and deeply rich tracks he created which inevitably set the conceptual mood and texture for all three art films in the most complex and conceptual ways I would have never imagined without his sound innovation. I know his work inspired each Director and performer  participating in this project as his tracks challenged them to interpret these sound artworks into visuals and motion forms.

North York Video 1 "Optimus", 2013 Video Still, 
Credit: Directors Jeff Hamill and Maddie Goodall

Jeff Hamill and Maddie Goodall were the first Directing Team to lead this project with the early completion of the first North York video "Optimus". Their original concept and independent vision featured an essential critical view of the theme and activated early excitement for the series. Their film also helped visualize the potential and possibilities of this series. I am especially grateful for their personal perspective featured as significant creative content. These two new young directors are definitely the ones to watch as the future of the Canadian Film community. I am already proud of this early collaboration with this amazing and dynamic Directing Duo.

Without the guidance of Director Jeremy Mimnagh I would have never had the wonderful fortune to find the artistic, film and dance triple threat (more commonly known as) Aria Evans. Aria's choreographic interpretation of my rough sketches for North York video 2 "Betty Ann Bush" raised the level of my practice in just over 30 spectacular seconds. Her orchestration of subtle  and cool compositions, boosted by Linnea Currie-Roberts' natural acting power, literally levitated the project to new heights. Linnea's magnificent performance was truly timeless.  I am indebted to both these amazing artists for giving me the most surreal experience of re-experiencing my art re-delivered to me in greater acuity and poignancy then ever first dreamed.

North York Video 2 "Betty Ann Bush", 2013 Video Still, 
Credit: Director and Choreographer Aria Evans

Thanks to Aria's great help I was able to discover the most magical contemporary dancer. Emma Letki's spectacular dance and theatrical performance lifted the North York video 3 "Lansing" film from the timelessly nostalgic settings towards a timeless Arcadian future now archived in HD because of her expert dance facility and finesse.

I also never imagined I would be so fortunate as to be able to work with Superstar Westside Studio Director Nikki Ormerod on another collaborative art project. Whether coincidence or written in the stars the memory of Toronto's best day of cinematic friendly weather ever, matched with the greatest cooperation of a city's worth of  municipally delivered serendipitous miracles, I can say I have the honour of experiencing working with Canada's greatest eyes once again.

North York Video 3 "Lansing", 2013 Video Still, 
Credit: Director Nikki Ormerod, Westside Studio

Special Thanks also to Bailey Govier, Caitlin Driscoll, and the amazingly supportive team at the Toronto Centre for the Arts including Director of Production Kristopher Dell, AV Extraordinaire Vadim Beili, and Lila Karim, Managing Director of North York Arts. 

This was a very important project for me, significant as I feel I have been given so much with the lucky opportunity to grow up and currently live in North York. Your help with realizing this artistic document in tribute to my hometown and neighbourhood means more to me than I can describe. Quite literally, this art project could not have been realized without your help and because of this and more I am so grateful to all of you for your creative contributions to this new trilogy.

~ Otino Corsano, 2013