Friday afternoon in Thornton Park, Banks Helfrich was setting up an art installation at Urban ReThink. He was being assisted by his son Halsey. Together, they covered the walls and floors of a small room with Mylar and carpet and other smooth materials.
Halsey (left) and Banks (right) Helfrich preparing the room for balloons.
A few hours later, Banks had filled the room with balloons ranging from the casual birthday balloon you can find at Publix to large weather balloons and they came in all sorts of shapes. It was quite a sight.
Banks was part of an Apartment E show called Dreamers and Doers. He created the balloon art installation as part of a fundraiser for his next film project 7 Lives of Chance. He told me the balloon room was inspired by a scene in his film where the lead character walks into a room filled with balloons as well.
The art installation wasn't just the balloons, though. He gave his audience members an opportunity to put on Dupont coveralls and walk into the room. Everyone that partook had a smile on their face and at the end of the experience, he let them know about his project and how to back it on Kickstarter.
If you are making your own low budget films, you have probably heard of Kickstarter. If you haven't, go check them out. They give people a proven way to raise funds for projects. It isn't venture capital kind of money, but it has the potential to be more than lemonade stand.
Kickstarter has been making the news lately, because 5 films that used Kickstarter made it into this year's Sundance Film Festival. Two of them collected awards and one, Pariah, was bought by Focus Films.
As of this writing, Banks had 118 people help fund 7 Lives of Chance and there is still one week left.
PhotoSeen - for more pictures from the art installation