KIBLIX 2026 | Barbara Jazbec: Blissful ignorance

Barbara Jazbec: Blissful ignorance
11 November–12 December 2026
artKIT

You are cordially invited to the opening of the solo exhibition Blissful Ignorance by intermedia artist Barbara Jazbec, which will take place on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, at 6 p.m. at the artKIT exhibition space.

INVITATION (PDF)

Blissful Ignorance is an interactive installation that uses humor and irony to explore our relationship with technology, consumerism, and electronic waste.

At the center of the space stands a pile of discarded electronics – once indispensable devices, now nothing more than remnants of technological progress. But the pile is not entirely dead. It watches, speaks, and tells its story:

EARTH → MINE → FACTORY → SHOP → YOU → DRAWER → TRASH → ?
Like an old sage who has seen too much, it reflects on technology’s journey from mines to landfills, and on our everyday excuses. Why repair something old when we can buy something new? And what difference can one person’s actions really make?

As visitors approach, they briefly find themselves among its remains, before their images dissolve into pixels. The boundary between user and waste becomes a little less clear.

Meanwhile, the phones held in outstretched hands continue to enthusiastically persuade us: NEW! UPGRADE! YOU DESERVE BETTER! A better camera, a longer-lasting battery, yet another feature we apparently cannot live without. Because the future is always just one purchase away.

Blissful Ignorance does not condemn technology itself. Instead, through the absurdity of our everyday habits, it questions our understanding of progress and the responsibilities that come with it.

Perhaps blissful ignorance is the luxury of choosing not to see what we already know.

Premiering in Maribor, Barbara also presents the installation Do I Believe in Life After Love?, which was first shown at the Nova Gorica City Gallery in December 2025.

The work examines the relationship between humans, artificial intelligence, empathy, and the need for human connection. The installation features two interactive chairs that respond to the presence of visitors. When a visitor sits alone, they enter an individual sonic interaction with technology. When two people are present at the same time, however, the experience changes, creating a new connection between the chairs that neither person can activate alone.

While Blissful Ignorance addresses our constant desire for new devices and the often-overlooked consequences of technological progress, Do I Believe in Life After Love? turns the focus toward ourselves. What happens to our relationships when we devote more and more of our time, attention, and emotional energy to technology? Can technology offer us a sense of closeness, understanding, and empathy? And can that feeling ever replace the presence of another human being?

The two works are linked by a shared question about our relationship with technology: not only where it comes from and where it goes, but also how much space we allow it to occupy in our everyday lives and in our relationships with others.

Biography

Barbara Jazbec Radičević (b. 1993) is an intermedia artist from Trbovlje, Slovenia, currently living and working in Linz, Austria. She holds a BA in Media and Arts from Tampere University of Applied Sciences in Finland and an MA in Interface Cultures from the University of Art and Design Linz. Her artistic practice spans 360° video and video installations, with a recent focus on interactive installations and sculptures made from second-hand toys such as Furbies and Robot Dogs. By merging personal experiences with elements of science fiction, futurism, and humor, she explores the beauty of the strange and the uncanny.
For five years, Barbara served as the curator of the international video festival DigitalBigScreen 360 in Trbovlje, Slovenia, where she also organized numerous experimental video workshops. She has extensive experience as a project manager for exhibitions and festivals, most recently leading the Campus exhibition of the University of Art and Design Linz at Ars Electronica Festival 2024. Her work has been exhibited internationally in Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, Finland, Slovenia, Romania, Luxembourg, Austria, and the UK.

Special thanks to everyone who donated old electronic devices, some of which had spent years forgotten in drawers, cupboards, and basements. Thanks to your contributions, this pile has found its story and come to life.

Artist, Idea & Concept: Barbara Jazbec Radičević
Sound & Audio Production: Branko Radičević
Production: ACE KIBLA, Maribor, 2026

< photograph of the installation prototype, Barbara Jazbec, 2026

artKIT, Glavni trg 14, Maribor
Opening hours: Tuesday–Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.