
To fill in the gaps and inconsistencies in her father’s biography, filmmaker Evi Stamou begins a correspondence with an artificial intelligence. From this conspiratorial and often impertinent exchange, possible and probable stories emerge, painting the portrait of a young dreamer, at a time when the Greek military junta was gaining power.
One of the great effects of art, as far as its means of production and the use of available technology are concerned, is the capacity to strike the viewer with the discovery that a common resource could have produced such a simple yet evocative effect. There is a certain envy attached to this feeling, which is pointed at the creator, but also a flattering admiration for the artwork. Evi Stamou’s WHO WAS HERE? bears the same effect. Its playful yet articulate combination of family history, archival material and AI technology in uncovering missing pieces of personal journeys redeems a current status of the use of AI in artmaking, as well as offers a cheeky and unforeseen solution to the phobia against overspeculation. (Emil Vasilache)

Evi Stamou is a video artist, filmmaker and researcher of new media based in Athens. In her artistic practice, she studies the relation and aesthetic boundaries between traditional cinematic forms and the evolving approaches of modern art, focusing on using new technologies. Her works have been selected to participate in international film festivals, video art festivals and contemporary art exhibitions in Greece and abroad, as well as in independent art spaces and galleries in Greece, USA, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, China and elsewhere.