MADE TO BREAK
2025
Solo exhibition at Regelbau 411
Running July-november 2025
MADE TO BREAK is an installation-based interpretation of Julie Østengaard’s upcoming album Slug Barbie. The exhibition explores how the modern individual is shaped, consumed and broken down in a reality dominated by performance, consumerism, and self-optimization.
The title MADE TO BREAK is borrowed from Giles Slade’s book on planned obsolescence, in which products are designed to break in order to sustain continuous consumption. In the exhibition, the term is used metaphorically — not to describe disposable products, but a society designed to wear down people.
The works shift between the absurd and the familiar, using a deconstructed approach to form and narrative that unfolds in fragments and abrupt ruptures. In an overexposed and satirical universe, drawing from mainstream and internet culture, sound, mechanics, altered objects and video are staged in choreographed scenarios.
With MADE TO BREAK, Østengaard points to how social ideals and systemic structures create a fundamental imbalance — one in which mental well-being is deprioritized and inequality is maintained.
Curated by Alex Mørch
Foto/video by Alex Mørch