March, 2026
Artist Dirk Habenschaden has been longlisted for the BBA Artist Prize 2026 with his series “Poetry in Black and White.” The internationally open call is organized by Berlin-based BBA Gallery and addresses contemporary artists across disciplines. The nomination underscores the growing relevance of generative image-making within the contemporary art context.
With this nomination, the jury recognizes a body of work that combines generative processes with a radically reduced monochrome visual language. Rather than relying on spectacular effects, Habenschaden pursues an approach of visual condensation: color is completely eliminated, allowing light, shadow, and texture to become the central compositional elements.
The series is developed through a multi-stage process balancing precise control of generative systems with the deliberate allowance of algorithmic deviation. The artist describes this dialogue between human and machine as a form of “binary poetry.”
The works are realized as fine art prints on aluminium Dibond, translating digital image data into a durable physical format. At the same time, the series expands the traditional image with an additional media layer: each print features an integrated code that serves as a gateway to a digital “Resonance Chamber,” where video loops, sound collages, and spoken text are activated. In this way, the image shifts from a static object to an access point within an expanded audiovisual field of experience.
“It is not about the tool, but about the emotional resonance the final image evokes in the viewer,”
says Habenschaden
Through this connection of physical artwork and digital extension, Habenschaden explores the interplay between human perception and technological image production.
The BBA Artist Prize is awarded annually by BBA Gallery in Berlin and is open to international contemporary artists. A shortlist is selected from the longlist, with the chosen works presented in an exhibition in Berlin.
Dirk Habenschaden is an interdisciplinary artist who develops immersive works using generative AI, working across image, sound, and spatial experience. With more than three decades of experience as an experience designer, he combines narrative structure with digital image systems. His works connect physical and digital layers: fine art prints become entry points into audiovisual resonance chambers.
dh@visual-generative.art
+49 151 67306294
insta @visualgenerative.art
insta @dirk.unreal
