I would use the Dover Prize to develop a new iteration of my ongoing research project, “Septentrion,”which investigates Northern British queer identity through speculative design and digital portraiture. Originally developed through a residency with East Street Arts in Leeds (2022-23), the work examines how macro-scale digital systems affect localised, marginalised subjectivities—specifically, how regional identity and queerness are aestheticised, erased, or distorted through algorithmic cultures.
The Dover Prize bursary would allow me to expand this work into the context of Darlington and County Durham, developing a new series of speculative digital sculptures and AI-generated portraits informed by workshops and one-on-one conversations with queer and underrepresented voices in the area. Funding would support:
1 – Local research and community engagement, connecting with cultural organisations and individuals in Darlington.
2 – Production of new digital artworks—including visual pieces, audio, and sculptural forms created through speculative design and experimenting with machine learning.
3 – Workshops and participatory sessions, enabling local participants to explore and reimagine their representations through emerging technologies.
4 – A public exhibition and publication, sharing the outcomes of the project and expanding the discourse on queer visibility, regionality, and digital selfhood.
The award would enable me to materially expand my practice by embedding it in the specificity of local context, while interrogating how identity is mediated by aesthetics, algorithms, and platformed infrastructures. Working with local partners, I hope to create work that speaks both to and beyond Darlington and to investigate regional identity within global conversations about digital culture, representation and queer futures.
This project would position Darlington as a site of experimental digital portraiture and critical queer storytelling. By extending the work developed at East Street Arts, and the ongoing PhD in AI-mediated subjectivity into County Durham, I would build on my own cultural capital as a queer, northern artist, to develop a collaborative platform for exploring how local identities—especially queer, marginalised, and working-class subjectivities—are shaped by digital systems, and how they might be creatively reimagined within platform capitalism.
Through speculative workshops, conversations, and AI-generated artworks, the project would raise the visibility of voices not always centered in cultural production, while introducing experimental formats of digital self-representation to local audiences. The public-facing elements—exhibition, publication, and events—would create opportunities for reflection and dialogue across art, technology and identity.
The project would illuminate Darlington’s role in shaping national discussions around contemporary art and digital futures whilst contributing to conversations on how Northern identity is archived, celebrated, and critiqued within technological contexts.
My practice investigates how emerging technologies shape subjectivity, social behaviour, and aesthetic cultures, specifically in relation to queer masculinities. Working across speculative design, installation, critical writing and public programmes, I develop hybrid frameworks for interrogating how identity is conditioned within contemporary digital infrastructures. This includes algorithmic influence, biotechnological development, and the mediatisation of selfhood. Rooted in long-form artistic research, The Validation Junky (2014–present) is an ongoing platform through which I examine digital validation economies and the commodification of identity. Recent solo exhibitions include The Validation Junky at RAM Gallery, Oslo (2023), which presented speculative drawings and video works exploring technological evolution of the self. Group exhibitions have included 197th RSA Annual Exhibition (2023), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, and We Are What the Internet Makes Us (2023), YAM Gallery, Mexico City. A transdisciplinary ethos underpins my work. Projects like Genetics Gym (2016–20) investigated genetic engineering through the lens of fashion design and digital anthropology. PERFECTION / SPECULATION, developed in collaboration with PRAKSIS Oslo, Karmaklubb* and The Vigeland Museum, has included public symposia, exhibitions and panel discussions examining the aesthetics and ethics of perfection in a techno-cultural age. Currently, my PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths examines post-ontological identity construction and how algorithmic infrastructures shape cultural expression and social behaviour. It builds on over a decade of research at the intersection of design, art, media theory and architecture. My work has been featured in exhibitions internationally, including the Science Gallery Dublin and the Fashion Space Gallery in London, and covered by BBC, CLOT Magazine, The Irish Times, The Conversation, Art Guide Australia and Kunstavisen. Upcoming work includes a new collaboration with PRAKSIS and University of Oslo, supported through my ESRC SeNSS PhD studentship, titled Tools for Navigating AI-Mediated Subjectivity (2026), culminating in workshops, public talks and an exhibition. My practice prioritises critical reflection and public accessibility, aiming to develop imaginative, accessible routes for audiences to explore the future of identity, technological mediation and aesthetic life.
Do you have a degree in visual or applied arts at undergraduate and/or post-graduate level? Please provide details. (200 words)
I hold an MA in Design Interactions (2012–2014) from the Royal College of Art, London, where I studied under Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. This programme developed my grounding in speculative design and critical engagement with emerging technologies, with a particular focus on AI, biotechnology, and social systems. My final project, The Validation Junky, initiated a body of work that has become a long-running framework for research and exhibition. I also hold a BSc in Architecture (Hons) from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL (2007–2011), where I was taught by Luke Caspar Pearson and Christine Hawley. The programme blended design experimentation with cultural theory, laying the foundation for my architectural and visual culture perspective. Currently, I am developing a part-time, hybrid theory/practice PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London (2024–2032), supervised by Dr Emily Rosamond. My research focuses on subjectivity in AI-integrated platforms and the commodification of post-ontological identity systems, and is supported by the ESRC SeNSS programme.
I hold an MA in Design Interactions (2012–2014) from the Royal College of Art, London, where I studied under Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. This programme developed my grounding in speculative design and critical engagement with emerging technologies, with a particular focus on AI, biotechnology, and social systems. My final project, The Validation Junky, initiated a body of work that has become a long-running framework for research and exhibition.
I also hold a BSc in Architecture (Hons) from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL (2007–2011), where I was taught by Luke Caspar Pearson and Christine Hawley. The programme blended design experimentation with cultural theory, laying the foundation for my architectural and visual culture perspective.
Currently, I am developing a part-time, hybrid theory/practice PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London (2024–2032), supervised by Dr Emily Rosamond. My research focuses on subjectivity in AI-integrated platforms and the commodification of post-ontological identity systems, and is supported by the ESRC SeNSS programme.
I have received several competitive grants and awards in support of my artistic research and cross-disciplinary practice. These include:
ESRC SeNSS Doctoral Studentship (2025–2032) – Awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) for my ongoing PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, under the Digital Social Sciences pathway.
Finalist – Lumen Prize Still Image Award (2024) – Recognised for VALIDERINGSØPPELET, a large-scale drawing examining the aesthetics of algorithmic perfection.
Artist in Residence (2022–23) – Convention House Art & Technology Residency, Leeds, supporting the project Septentrion, which explored queer and Northern British identity through digital media.
Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship (2018) – Melbourne School of Design, awarded for my speculative design research on identity, architecture and the body.
Designer in Residence (2016–17) – Fashion Space Gallery, London College of Fashion, supporting the development of Genetics Gym, an installation and workshop series exploring genetics, identity and fashion.
Artist in Residence (2015-16) – Visible Futures Lab, School of Visual Arts NYC, supporting the development of designed experiments into automation of aesthetic sensibilities.
FIAT Interaction Design Award (2013) – Recognised by FIAT Centro Stile and the Royal College of Art for a speculative design project that contributed to the development of the electric FIAT 500.
I have initiated and directed multiple self-created professional opportunities, often operating at the intersection of art, technology and critical discourse. Most prominently, The Validation Junky (2014–present) functions as both a research platform and a self-organised curatorial and exhibition vehicle, including residencies, public programming, and cross-sector dialogue.
I also co-founded and led the PERFECTION / SPECULATION residency in collaboration with PRAKSIS Oslo, Karmaklubb* and The Vigeland Museum. This transdisciplinary residency combined public symposia, exhibitions and filmed dialogues with figures such as Lev Manovich, Lucy McRae, and Natasha Vita-More, generating new critical frameworks for understanding the pursuit of ‘perfection’ in technologically saturated cultures.
Beyond these, I have developed and delivered speculative workshops for East Street Arts (Leeds), Fashion Space Gallery (London), and Science Gallery (Dublin and Melbourne), often self-initiated or collaboratively constructed in response to institutional contexts.
These projects blend art practice with critical pedagogy, platform building, and community engagement, and bring speculative and technological discourse into public-facing and accessible formats.
I have received multiple commissions from public institutions that support interdisciplinary art and research. Most notably, I was commissioned by The Vigeland Museum (Oslo, Norway) in collaboration with PRAKSIS Oslo and Karmaklubb* for the PERFECTION / SPECULATION residency (2020–2021). This involved a public exhibition and panel event within the museum and included new sculptural works and large-format video installations that interrogated perfection and identity through a technological lens.
I have also developed public programming and exhibition content in partnership with Science Gallery Dublin and Science Gallery Melbourne, contributing commissioned works from the Genetics Gym project for their PERFECTION exhibitions (2018–2019), which explored the societal and scientific dimensions of human enhancement.
In 2023, my large-format drawing, We Are What the Internet Makes Us – I, was selected for the 197th RSA Annual Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
At present, my artworks have not yet been acquired by a public collection. However, my work has been exhibited and commissioned by major public institutions including The Vigeland Museum, Science Gallery Dublin, and Science Gallery Melbourne — and has been shortlisted or featured in exhibitions such as the Royal Scottish Academy’s Annual Exhibition and The Lumen Prize.
The long-form, research-led nature of my practice often results in participatory formats, large-format drawings, and time-based media, which I aim to situate within discursive platforms and public engagement contexts. With increasing institutional interest in speculative and critical design methods, I am actively exploring future acquisition opportunities in collaboration with curators and collections that align with my thematic focus on identity, technology, and digital subjectivity.
My work has been featured across multiple platforms including:
CLOT Magazine (2023) – In Conversation: Adam Peacock & Alessandra Coretti, discussing The Validation Junky and speculative identity.
Kunstavisen (NO) (2023) – Featured article on The Validation Junky exhibition at RAM Gallery, Oslo.
The Irish Times (2019) – Coverage of PERFECTION at Science Gallery Dublin.
The Conversation (2018) – Review of PERFECTION exhibition, addressing intersections of art, science and perfection.
Art Guide Australia (2018) – Feature on speculative design and genetics in PERFECTION, Science Gallery Melbourne.
BBC iPlayer (2018) – Appearance in documentary on algorithmic beauty standards and genetic editing.
CLOT Magazine (2017) – Feature on speculative design, consumer psychology and Genetics Gym.
Journal of Dress History (2021) – Book review discussing my contribution to Crafting Anatomies, Bloomsbury Academic.
Image.ie – Feature on digital identity and AI-perfected selfhood, referencing my work.
Londonist, FAD Magazine, and Art Map London – Reviews of Next Brave New World and The Validation Junky.
I am not currently represented by a commercial gallery. My practice has primarily evolved through collaborations with institutions, curators, and research-led organisations, with a strong emphasis on artistic research, speculative design, and public engagement.
I have participated in several recognised international artist residencies:
Convention House Art & Technology Residency (2022–2023), East Street Arts, Leeds – Supported development of Septentrion, a digital media project examining Northern British and queer identity.
PERFECTION / SPECULATION Residency (2020–2021), PRAKSIS Oslo – Lead resident in a collaboration with The Vigeland Museum and Karmaklubb*, focused on digital culture, identity, and speculative perfection.
Designer in Residence (2016–2017), Fashion Space Gallery, London College of Fashion – Developed Genetics Gym, supported by the Digital Anthropology Lab and UCL Centre for Human Reproduction.
Artist in Residence (2015–2016), Visible Futures Lab, School of Visual Arts, NYC – Created Machines for Automating Taste, a new media project exploring algorithmic aesthetics.
Email: ap@adampeacock.co.uk
Address: 35 Warnes, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3DW, GB
Local Authority: Worthing Borough Council
