Rm 921: Selina Trepp

Projected onto a 48-foot wall, Working the Flow is only viewable after dusk and from the windows of 21c Chicago guest rooms with interior-facing windows. Designed to showcase immersive and experiential moving-image work in response to the unique space, Elevate: Rm 921 addresses complex issues that shape our diverse and rapidly changing world.

This piece is about the urban cycle of creation, entropy and maintenance. Living in a city, a built environment, more than in any other space we are subject to this cycle, constantly subject to wear and tear, decay, and in the process finding new solutions, which then require maintenance to exist, eventually succumbing to time, making space for something new. 

An assortment of colorful sculptures inch across the screen in a fanciful parade. Each object appears to be composed of found materials that unfolds, rolls, and twirls down a pathway of geometric patterns, transporting the chaos and excitement of an urban environment to the projection. 

The film shows a wide expanse of sky in an ode to Chicago’s famous skyline. The sky displays both sunrise and sunset to symbolize the transition that travelers experience.  

Selina Trepp (Swiss/American b.1973) is an artist researching economy and improvisation. 

Finding a balance between the intuitive and conceptual is a goal, living a life of adventure is a way, new perspectives coming out of courage mixed with joy are a result. 

She works across media, combining performance, installation, painting, and sculpture to create intricate setups that result in photos, drawings and animations. 

In addition to the studio-based work, Selina is active in the experimental music scene. In this context she sings and plays the videolah, her midi-controlled video synthesizer, to create projected animations in real-time as visual music. She performs with a varying cast of collaborators and as one half of Spectralina, her long running audiovisual collaboration with Dan Bitney.