Praise and Acclaim: Momentum Tulsa Artist Daniel Giles Helm

Daniel Giles Helm, Tulsa

Laura Reese: What is your concept and inspiration for this piece in Momentum?
Daniel Giles Helm: I wanted to make a piece that more or less congratulated the viewer just for engaging with the work. Sure, there is a list of rules for which you could be told "Good Job," but they are completely arbitrary and setup to be ubiquitous. If you ever do anything to feel better about yourself, you get to be praised by the piece.

Detail shot from Daniel Giles Helm's Good Job

Please explain the technique and/or process you used to create this work.
The piece is 16' x 8' of panels with a total 984 blinking light bulbs in it. They were each soldered together by hand, a task that wouldn't have gotten done without my mom and girlfriend helping me pull some absurd hours. In front of the piece is a special camera which helps the software detect the shape of the user's body. If they raise their hands all the way above their head, the piece then cheers and lights up to support them.
For anyone looking to do similar, it's a Kinect camera processed by OpenNI via Processing, which controls some relays through an Arduino.

participant interacting with Daniel Giles Helm's Good Job

Where else can the audience see your work?
 Hopefully at Momentum OKC, but in the mean time, I have digital works scattered across the internet. My personal site is mid-facelift, but can be found at http://danielgileshelm.com.

You can see video from the installation here.

Momentum Tulsa features visual art by 51 young Oklahomans. The exhibition remains on display until October 24 at Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E Brady. Spotlight Artists will speak to the public on October 24th at 6:30pm at Living Arts. Learn more at www.MomentumOklahoma.org