This project was the first moment I delved more openly into video art, the first video I made with intention; a homage to my sister.
There is an interesting wordplay going on as the name of my sister, Zoe, is also a Greek word translating to ‘Life’. The play that happens between missing ‘Zoe’ and missing ‘Life’ creates a dramatic interpretation of longing, remembering and missing someone.
A lot of the inspiration for this work and its atmosphere came from old Greek music, namely songs by Grigoris Bithikotsis, and one is re-sung by me in the video. As Greek songs tend to have a melodramatic feeling to them, due to their tone as well as the topics they address; mainly life, death, love, suffering, drinking and smoking. They are both wonderfully passionate songs as well as overly dramatic understandings of life. However, needless to say their atmosphere is a striking one.
A voyeuristic approach is taken, as the viewer watches me in very intimate spaces, in my home, footage from my youth, footage of me and my sister as children. There is no inclusion in the work, as the two subjects: the sister and the artist, seem to function in the video rather unaware of presenting but rather representing the inner feelings and thoughts when someone is far away.
