5-8.6.25

NICOLAI HORNBURG

- the Sacred in the age of Planned Obsolescence

Sorgenfri is pleased to present artist Nicolai Hornburg’s first solo exhibition, a reflective investigation into our evolving relationship with technology— physically, culturally, and spiritually. Centered around the concept of planned obsolescence, not only as a manufacturing strategy, but as a broader metaphor - the exhibition explores how technological systems shape the rituals and rhythms of contemporary life. Hornburg asks whether the tools we once viewed as functional have taken on a more sacred presence. His works consider how consumer habits, tech monopolies, and constant digital surveillance shape both our physical environment and our inner lives.

Rooted in silkscreen printing, textiles, and sculpture, Hornburg practice poses visual questions rather than conclusions. He navigates the space between permanence and disposability, belief and consumption—examining how digital culture is forming new rituals. This inquiry sits at the heart of a practice deeply engaged with the parallels between religion and technology.

Is the personal computer becoming the new altar?

Through sculptural and printed interventions on technological objects, the works heighten the tension between reverence and routine, utility and obsolescence. In a world where devices are designed to decay, the exhibition asks: what truly endures?

This marks a significant moment in the development of a materially driven and conceptually rigorous practice. It is both Hornburg’s debut solo exhibition and his first collaboration with the gallery.

Works:

– Planned Obsolescence (2024)

Pierced mac

L54 B26 H20

Clean mac

L54 B28 H26

55 kg

– New Church (2024)

Silkprint on laptop

L35,5 B23,5 D2,5

2 kg