PERFECTION / SPECULATION in conversation with Natasha Vita-More photo Katharina Gellein Viken & Charles Kriel
Adam Peacock is a post-disciplinary artist, creative director, and academic theorist working at the intersection of architecture, sculpture, AI, fashion, branding and computer science. His work explores how digital infrastructures shape human behaviour, desire, and identity in an increasingly complex world.
His work draws on methods from consumer psychology, genetic technology, media theory, and visual culture, unfolding across gallery, academic, and commercial contexts. Since 2014, he has developed THE VALIDATION JUNKY—a long-term research framework and experimental lens examining how algorithmic systems codify desirability and identity. The project spans digital body scanning, engineering blueprints, data cartography, and meta-body representations within augmented and virtual environments, and informs artistic practice, academic theory, and commercially applied strategy.
Artistic Lens
Peacock’s exhibited work unfolds through THE VALIDATION JUNKY, an ongoing conceptual framework exploring how algorithmic systems shape desirability, identity, and subjectivity. Presentations have taken place across museums, galleries, biennales, research institutions, and innovation platforms internationally. These include: Arebyte Gallery, London (2014); Visible Futures Lab, SVA New York City (2015); Royal College of Art, London (2015); Architectural Association, London (2016); Fashion Space Gallery, London (2016–17); Fashion Clash Festival, Maastricht (2018); Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne (2018); Science Gallery Melbourne (2018); Science Gallery Dublin (2019); SCI-Arc Los Angeles (2020); ArtCenter, Los Angeles (2020); School of International Art, Beijing (2020); Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design, Lahore (2020); Ars Electronica, Linz (2021); The Vigeland Museum, Oslo (2021); Bartlett School of Architecture, London (2022); Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City (2022–23); Yam Gallery, Mexico City (2023); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2023); RAM Gallery, Oslo (2023); and SKOG Art Space, Oslo (upcoming—2026).
Academic Practice & Research
Alongside artistic production, pedagogical and research-led programmes have explored how identity, technology, and digital culture intersect through speculative design, critical theory, and collaborative formats that cross fashion, architecture, media, biotechnology and computation. He is currently undertaking an ESRC-supported PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where his work interrogates the assetisation of online identity and the optimisation of bodies through AI-driven infrastructures. From 2016–20, he served as Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion, leading the Speculative Prototyping unit for MA Fashion Futures, and from 2020–24 was Visiting Professor of Future Fashion and Identity at the School of International Art, Beijing, leading the ‘Future of Fashion, Identity and the Metaverse’ masterclass. He co-founded the Fashion/Architecture Lab and co-led the DNA of Perfection studio at the Melbourne School of Design, where he was awarded the 2018 Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship.
Consultancy, Creative Direction & Commercial Systems
Peacock’s commercial and consultancy work translates a lens developed through speculative design into real-world applications, combining critical foresight with strategic development for brands, spaces, and digital ecosystems. His practice explores how human psychology engages with the textures of daily life across garments, objects, vehicles, buildings, and environments, and connects design thinking to broader cultural behaviours. This perspective offers a ‘big picture’ understanding of consumer dynamics and has shaped projects for clients including Audi, Accenture, FIAT, NEOM Saudi Arabia, Stella McCartney, and the Science Gallery Network. With a background in architecture, he previously held roles at Amanda Levete Architects, Heatherwick Studio, and WilkinsonEyre, contributing to landmark developments across Europe, Asia, North America, and the Middle East.
Peacock’s exhibited work unfolds through THE VALIDATION JUNKY, an ongoing conceptual framework exploring how algorithmic systems shape desirability, identity, and subjectivity. Presentations have taken place across museums, galleries, biennales, research institutions, and innovation platforms internationally. These include: Arebyte Gallery, London (2014); Visible Futures Lab, SVA New York City (2015); Royal College of Art, London (2015); Architectural Association, London (2016); Fashion Space Gallery, London (2016–17); Fashion Clash Festival, Maastricht (2018); Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne (2018); Science Gallery Melbourne (2018); Science Gallery Dublin (2019); SCI-Arc Los Angeles (2020); ArtCenter, Los Angeles (2020); School of International Art, Beijing (2020); Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design, Lahore (2020); Ars Electronica, Linz (2021); The Vigeland Museum, Oslo (2021); Bartlett School of Architecture, London (2022); Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City (2022–23); Yam Gallery, Mexico City (2023); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2023); RAM Gallery, Oslo (2023); and SKOG Art Space, Oslo (upcoming—2026).
Academic Practice & Research
Alongside artistic production, pedagogical and research-led programmes have explored how identity, technology, and digital culture intersect through speculative design, critical theory, and collaborative formats that cross fashion, architecture, media, biotechnology and computation. He is currently undertaking an ESRC-supported PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where his work interrogates the assetisation of online identity and the optimisation of bodies through AI-driven infrastructures. From 2016–20, he served as Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion, leading the Speculative Prototyping unit for MA Fashion Futures, and from 2020–24 was Visiting Professor of Future Fashion and Identity at the School of International Art, Beijing, leading the ‘Future of Fashion, Identity and the Metaverse’ masterclass. He co-founded the Fashion/Architecture Lab and co-led the DNA of Perfection studio at the Melbourne School of Design, where he was awarded the 2018 Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship.
Consultancy, Creative Direction & Commercial Systems
Peacock’s commercial and consultancy work translates a lens developed through speculative design into real-world applications, combining critical foresight with strategic development for brands, spaces, and digital ecosystems. His practice explores how human psychology engages with the textures of daily life across garments, objects, vehicles, buildings, and environments, and connects design thinking to broader cultural behaviours. This perspective offers a ‘big picture’ understanding of consumer dynamics and has shaped projects for clients including Audi, Accenture, FIAT, NEOM Saudi Arabia, Stella McCartney, and the Science Gallery Network. With a background in architecture, he previously held roles at Amanda Levete Architects, Heatherwick Studio, and WilkinsonEyre, contributing to landmark developments across Europe, Asia, North America, and the Middle East.
Photo Daniel Remkall Slotvik
Genetics Gym Development, photo John Duff
“It's an interesting moment to be an artist and designer, economically speaking. I believe that the most relevant contemporary artists, architects and designers of our time will not just investigate the buildings, objects, clothes, cars we use, but the technological infrastructures that we inhabit, psychologically and culturally.
When we start to confront these design realms, it’s important to have the perspective to understand that what you might consider perfect, ideal or utopian might well be another person's dystopia.
This is particularly interesting when you start to consider the possibilities of synthetic biology, genome editing, and artificial intelligence. I believe that these conversations, through artistic design processes, whether architectural, fashion, or industrial, will be some of the most important design challenges of our time”
Excerpt taken from an interview with Melbourne School of Design available here
