PERFECTION / SPECULATION in conversation with Natasha Vita-More at Vigelandmuseet, OsloPhoto 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. THE VALIDATION JUNKY, his long-term experimental research framework, directly informs IDENTITY MECHANISMS, a strategic consultancy advising brands and institutions on how digital systems and new technologies shape identity, culture and human behaviour.
THE VALIDATION JUNKY at RAM Gallery, Oslo THE VALIDATION JUNKY
— Research-Led Artistic Lens
Adam’s exhibited work unfolds around THE VALIDATION JUNKY, an ongoing conceptual project that explores how algorithms influence desire, identity, and the way individuals see themselves. Originally developed during Adam’s MA at the Royal College of Art, the project was first exhibited in 2014 at the RCA’s Henry Moore Gallery. This research-driven framework underpins a cross-disciplinary practice spanning drawing, installation, video, and speculative design. Developed over more than a decade, THE VALIDATION JUNKY also forms the basis of Adam’s current PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). His research explores how online identity becomes a marketable asset and how individual expressions of self are increasingly shaped, guided, and optimised by market-driven AI systems.
This approach shapes both his artistic and teaching work. Between 2016 and 2020, Adam was Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion, where he led the Speculative Prototyping unit for MA Fashion Futures, and also served as Visiting Lecturer for the MA Fashion programme at the Royal College of Art. From 2020 to 2024, he was Visiting Professor of Future Fashion and Identity at the School of International Art in Beijing, where he ran the masterclass The Future of Fashion, Identity and the Metaverse. He also co-founded the Fashion/Architecture Lab and co-led the DNA of Perfection M.Arch studio at the Melbourne School of Design, where he was awarded the 2018 Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship. His teaching and research have been featured on BBC iPlayer and published by Bloomsbury Academic.
Projects developed through THE VALIDATION JUNKY have been shown internationally, including at Arebyte Gallery, London (2014); Visible Futures Lab, SVA NYC (2015); Fashion Space Gallery, London (2016–17); Melbourne School of Design (2018); Science Gallery Dublin (2019); Ars Electronica, Linz (2021); Vigelandmuseet, Oslo (2021); Tecnológico de Monterrey, CDMX (2022); RAM Gallery, Oslo (2023); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2023); and SKOG Art Space, Oslo (upcoming, 2026).
— Research-Led Artistic Lens
Adam’s exhibited work unfolds around THE VALIDATION JUNKY, an ongoing conceptual project that explores how algorithms influence desire, identity, and the way individuals see themselves. Originally developed during Adam’s MA at the Royal College of Art, the project was first exhibited in 2014 at the RCA’s Henry Moore Gallery. This research-driven framework underpins a cross-disciplinary practice spanning drawing, installation, video, and speculative design. Developed over more than a decade, THE VALIDATION JUNKY also forms the basis of Adam’s current PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). His research explores how online identity becomes a marketable asset and how individual expressions of self are increasingly shaped, guided, and optimised by market-driven AI systems.
This approach shapes both his artistic and teaching work. Between 2016 and 2020, Adam was Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion, where he led the Speculative Prototyping unit for MA Fashion Futures, and also served as Visiting Lecturer for the MA Fashion programme at the Royal College of Art. From 2020 to 2024, he was Visiting Professor of Future Fashion and Identity at the School of International Art in Beijing, where he ran the masterclass The Future of Fashion, Identity and the Metaverse. He also co-founded the Fashion/Architecture Lab and co-led the DNA of Perfection M.Arch studio at the Melbourne School of Design, where he was awarded the 2018 Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship. His teaching and research have been featured on BBC iPlayer and published by Bloomsbury Academic.
Projects developed through THE VALIDATION JUNKY have been shown internationally, including at Arebyte Gallery, London (2014); Visible Futures Lab, SVA NYC (2015); Fashion Space Gallery, London (2016–17); Melbourne School of Design (2018); Science Gallery Dublin (2019); Ars Electronica, Linz (2021); Vigelandmuseet, Oslo (2021); Tecnológico de Monterrey, CDMX (2022); RAM Gallery, Oslo (2023); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2023); and SKOG Art Space, Oslo (upcoming, 2026).
IDENTITY MECHANISMS
— Consultancy & Commercial Systems
Building on the ideas behind THE VALIDATION JUNKY, Adam founded IDENTITY MECHANISMS (ID-M), a research-driven consultancy that brings speculative thinking into real-world contexts. The studio works across brand ecosystems, physical products, and digital platforms to explore how identity is shaped, coded, and commercialised today. Sitting at the intersection of consumer psychology, design strategy, AI, computational and algorithmic research, and cultural theory, the consultancy investigates how individuals navigate platform capitalism, algorithmic systems, and aesthetic pressures across diverse design terrains, including fashion, product, vehicle, architecture, and digital life.
This cross-disciplinary approach has informed creative strategy and innovation work for brands including Stella McCartney, Audi, FIAT, NEOM Saudi Arabia, Accenture, Converse, Lyst, and the Science Gallery Network. Adam’s work helps shape insight frameworks, brand narratives, and future-facing design concepts that align technology with shifting human cultures, behaviours and desires.
For Stella McCartney, he advised on new identity territories that bring together sustainability, innovation, and luxury ethics in digital fashion. His concept for the FIAT 500e was selected by Stellantis’ Head of Design, Sergio Marchionne, to help guide the car’s visual language and cultural positioning. And for NEOM, his strategic work contributed to concept design and the development of digital twin infrastructures and new urban visions in Saudi Arabia.
Before founding ID-M, Adam worked in senior design roles at Heatherwick Studio, WilkinsonEyre, and Amanda Levete Architects. He contributed to major international projects including Azabudai Hills in Tokyo, the V&A’s Exhibition Road Quarter in London, Central Embassy in Bangkok, and CIBC Square in Toronto. Architecture gave Adam the dexterity to resolve complex challenges, balancing competing demands while shaping well-reasoned outcomes. He brings that same approach to ID-M, where he translates layered complexity into a clear vision and strategy across identity, design, and technology.
— Consultancy & Commercial Systems
Building on the ideas behind THE VALIDATION JUNKY, Adam founded IDENTITY MECHANISMS (ID-M), a research-driven consultancy that brings speculative thinking into real-world contexts. The studio works across brand ecosystems, physical products, and digital platforms to explore how identity is shaped, coded, and commercialised today. Sitting at the intersection of consumer psychology, design strategy, AI, computational and algorithmic research, and cultural theory, the consultancy investigates how individuals navigate platform capitalism, algorithmic systems, and aesthetic pressures across diverse design terrains, including fashion, product, vehicle, architecture, and digital life.
This cross-disciplinary approach has informed creative strategy and innovation work for brands including Stella McCartney, Audi, FIAT, NEOM Saudi Arabia, Accenture, Converse, Lyst, and the Science Gallery Network. Adam’s work helps shape insight frameworks, brand narratives, and future-facing design concepts that align technology with shifting human cultures, behaviours and desires.
For Stella McCartney, he advised on new identity territories that bring together sustainability, innovation, and luxury ethics in digital fashion. His concept for the FIAT 500e was selected by Stellantis’ Head of Design, Sergio Marchionne, to help guide the car’s visual language and cultural positioning. And for NEOM, his strategic work contributed to concept design and the development of digital twin infrastructures and new urban visions in Saudi Arabia.
Before founding ID-M, Adam worked in senior design roles at Heatherwick Studio, WilkinsonEyre, and Amanda Levete Architects. He contributed to major international projects including Azabudai Hills in Tokyo, the V&A’s Exhibition Road Quarter in London, Central Embassy in Bangkok, and CIBC Square in Toronto. Architecture gave Adam the dexterity to resolve complex challenges, balancing competing demands while shaping well-reasoned outcomes. He brings that same approach to ID-M, where he translates layered complexity into a clear vision and strategy across identity, design, and technology.
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GENETICS GYM development in Adam’s studio, London
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
Commissioned by the Fashion Space Gallery, London