Mario Müller, also known as BASD-ART, is a German art director and AI artist with over 20 years of experience in visual communication. After working for international agencies and brands, his practice has shifted toward experimental, AI-driven image creation. Since 2023, he has been exploring the intersection of technology and intuition, often starting from his own visual material rather than pure text prompts. His work is surreal and provocative, treating AI as a creative medium, and extends into immersive formats such as installations and projection mapping.

“My work is driven by a fascination with creating images I haven’t seen before. I use artificial intelligence as part of a broader visual process, combining it with my background in art direction, design and image-making.

I rarely start with a blank prompt. Instead, I often work from my own images, sketches, compositions, or visual references and push them through different stages of transformation. The process is experimental and often unpredictable. I know roughly where I want to go, but I deliberately leave room for accidents and unexpected results.

After more than 20 years working in visual communication, I have a strong instinct for composition and aesthetics. In my personal work, however, I’m interested in moving beyond those established routines and seeing what happens when I give up some control.

For me, AI is neither the subject nor the message of the work. It is simply another medium that allows me to make images that would otherwise be difficult, or sometimes impossible, to create."