GENETICS GYM
A dedicated project website is available here
The Genetics Gym is a narrative installation investigating human cognition of genes ‘genetics’ and memes ‘memetics’ as appeal, attraction, or beauty.
The Genetics Gym is a research project depicting a calculated fiction of modified bodies across five fictional brands, edited with hypothetical new and emerging genetic technologies, allowing in-depth exploration to question how the internet affects human behaviour. The project, spanning five years (2016-2021), is built upon the Darwinian construct that what an evolutionary biologist might term perception of genetic strength, we might term appeal, attraction, or ‘sexiness’, now playing out in a vastly complex new media age. The project builds upon Marshall McLuhan’s theories on electric circuitry as an extension of the central nervous system, Norbert Weiner’s cybernetic theories, and evolutionary psychology. As ongoing speculation, the project is designed to engage varied audiences and perspectives in a multi-layered conversation on the effects of new media today. The project emphasises marginalised identities and homogenisation by observing the link between the cognitive perception of genes and visual appeal in contemporary popular culture.
The Genetics Gym was developed as a component of the 2016 Design Residency at the Fashion Space Gallery at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, in collaboration with UCL’s Human Genetics and Embryology department and London College of Fashion’s Digital Anthropology Lab and Applied Psychology in Fashion department.
Keywords - Artificial Intelligence, Bioethics, Computer Science, Consumer Psychology, CRISPR-Cas9, Cultural Analytics, Fashion Futures, Fashion Identity, Fashion Silhouette, Fine Art, Genetics, Identity Systems, Modifiable Bodies, New Media, Ontologies, Post-Humanism, Sculpture, Web3
Brain-Body-Society, 2017,
Graphic Illustration conceptualising the connection between
cognition of visual proportions and mathematics,
and appropriation of individual bodies
Graphic Illustration conceptualising the connection between
cognition of visual proportions and mathematics,
and appropriation of individual bodies
Install View, Genetics Gym
Fashion Space Gallery, 2017
Fashion Space Gallery, 2017
Body Scanning with Facial Tracking, 2017
Illustration: Brain-Body-Society, Character no5
Gallery visitors observe the characters blinking, breathing,
moving and slowly morphing between the five different ‘
perceptions of success’
moving and slowly morphing between the five different ‘
perceptions of success’
Character Number One, body edited according to the
first brand’s ideology or ‘perception of success’
first brand’s ideology or ‘perception of success’
Illustration: Brain-Body-Society, Character no1 (detail)
Illustration: Brain-Body-Society, Character no1
Research document showing brand outlines aligning
with the five characters to create twenty-five portraits,
including the ‘menu’ of genetic components required
for the body-morphs situated within gallery installation
with the five characters to create twenty-five portraits,
including the ‘menu’ of genetic components required
for the body-morphs situated within gallery installation
Research document
Research document (detail)
Research document showing five different drivers defining scope for theoretical context study; Genetic Tech Development, Photographic Tech Development, Shift in Media / Human Interaction, Shift in Public Anxiety, Perception of Disability, 1975 - 2045
Research document (detail)
Research document (detail)
Character Number Five, body edited according to the first brand’s ideology or ‘perception of success’
GENETICS GYM
Commissioned by the Fashion Space Gallery
Artist - Adam Peacock
Project Management - Fashion Space Gallery Team
Research
Research Lead - Adam Peacock
Applied Psychology Consultant - Prof. Carolyn Mair (London College of Fashion)
Genetic Technology Consultant - Dr. Helen C. O’Neill (UCL)
Genetic Technology Research - Ashley Campbell, Liane Stein (UCL)
Research Assistants - Dian-Jen Lin, Isabela Branca Gygax, Lara Gill (London College of Fashion)
Research Workshop Attendees, Design - Dian-Jen Lin, Hew Wang, Jo Cope, Siyang Meng, Voranida Rujekitnara, Yuqing Lai (London College of Fashion), Anderson Dalle Laste (London College of Communication)
Research Workshop Attendees, Psychology - Prof. Roberta Degnore (Fashion Institute of Technology NYC), David Adams, James Boag (London College of Fashion)
Research Workshp Attendees, Genetic Technology - Dr. Helen C. O’Neill, Ashley Campbell, Liane Stein, Rachel Ho (UCL)
Research Workshop Photography - Celia Tang (London College of Fashion)
Research Symposium Chairs - Adam Peacock & Lynne Murray (Digital Anthropology Lab)
Research Symposium, on Social Policy & Mental Health - Duncan Stephenson (Royal Society for Public Health)
Research Symposium, on Genetic Technology - Prof. Joyce Harper (UCL), Dr. Helen C. O’Neill (UCL)
Research Symposium, on Synthetic Biology & Speculative Bodies - Dr. Agatha Haines (Cognovo Research Lab)
Research Symposium, on Plastic Surgery - Dr. Barry M. Jones (Royal College of Surgeons)
Research Symposium, on Computer Science - Henrique Mathias (Feeld)
Production
Videography, Post-Production, Styling - Adam Peacock
Sound Artist - Timothy Wang aka TWANG
Makeup Artist - Tamara Dickson-Jones (London College of Fashion)
Production Assistants - Celia Tang, Dian-Jen Lin, Isabela Branca Gygax, Lara Gill (London College of Fashion)
Technical Equipment - Adam Grice, Alex Burgess, Dimitrios Coumados, James Montgomery, Kate Allen
Model Casting - Adam Peacock / The Validation Junky
Model Number One - Wing Yue Leung
Model Number Two - Hermione Fallow Callow
Model Number Three - Brendan Howley
Model Number Four - Thomas Wade Nichols
Model Number Five - John Kamau
Graphic Illustrations Drawings - Adam Peacock
Graphic Illustrations Printing - theprintspace
Research Document Production - Adam Peacock
Dissemination
Exhibition Design - Adam Peacock
Technical Install - Fergus O’Connor, Manoj Mistry, Steven Legget
Exhibition & Behind-The-Scenes Photography & Videography - Adam Peacock, Dian-Jen Lin, Isabela Branca Gygax, James Sanders, John Duff
Exhibition & Behind-The-Scenes Photography & Videography Edit - Adam Peacock, Isabela Branca Gygax
With ongoing support by Praksis Oslo, Arts Council Norway, City of Oslo, Science Gallery Dublin, Science Gallery Melbourne, Reproductive Science and Women's Health MSc, University College London, Digital Anthropology Lab, University of the Arts London
The project would not have been possible without the generosity of conversation, critique, ideas, wisdom, energy, and patience from - Adrien Weinert, Alex McIntosh, Charalambos Demetriou, Charlotte Baker, Dai Rees, Eelko Moorer, Frances McGarry, Janne Baetsen, Lara Sanjar, Mouhannad Al-Sayegh, Neil Hubbard, Nigel Luck, Nilgin Yusuf, Peter Hill, Susan Postlethwaite, Ted Hunt, Yener Bayramoglu, Zowie Broach
Exhibited at - ‘JUMPSTART’, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey and Mexico City, Mexico (2022-23), ‘Perfection / Speculation’, Vigeland Museum, Oslo, Norway (2021), ‘PERFECTION’, Science Gallery Dublin, Ireland (2019), PERFECTION: Part Experiment / Part Exhibition’, Science Gallery Melbourne, Australia (2018), Fashion Space Gallery, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK (2017)