PebbleRoad
Research Intern
I contributed research to a rebranding project with an arts organisation, where I conducted interviews and social media audits to gather data and analyse audience engagement. The insights drawn from this research played a key role in shaping the direction of the project. In addition, I undertook an independent project exploring how art can be used to navigate complexity, which I presented to the team.
Me presenting "The Use of Art" to the PebbleRoad team
The Use of Art
PebbleRoad is a design and innovation consultancy that uses strategy and new technologies to elevate user experience. During my internship as a research intern, I worked on a project to revitalise an arts company’s branding and website. I analysed their social media data to understand what their audience actually engaged with, then interviewed their target users to uncover gaps in their branding and communication.
Throughout the process, I drew on my background in the arts and combined it with what I was learning about design thinking. This eventually led me to present on how art and design intersect, especially in their shared ability to translate complex ideas into experiences that connect with people. You can view that presentation below!
View my Presentation here!
Presentation Summary
I’ve always turned to art when I feel overwhelmed, and a recent visit to Olafur Eliasson’s exhibition made me realise why: engaging with art helps me make sense of complex ideas. At SAM’s The Curious Journey, the interactive works drew me in emotionally before I could analyse them, and I realised that searching for the “right meaning” was actually pulling me away from what the exhibition was trying to communicate.
This connected to the idea of hyperobjects, phenomena like climate change or plastic that stretch across time and space and can’t be fully perceived at once. Philosopher Timothy Morton coined the term to help us think about these overwhelming entities without getting stuck on their symptoms. Because hyperobjects require ecological, cross-disciplinary thinking, they can be hard to grasp, which is why artists embraced the concept more readily than philosophers; they could express it experientially.
Through this, I realised that art connects us to complex ideas. When I stopped hunting for answers and responded emotionally, the concept of hyperobjects became clearer. Engaging with art helps me understand myself and the world, revealing concerns I didn’t realise I had and helping me think through complex issues. Artists like Olafur Eliasson and Trevor Paglen make vast ideas tangible through sensory and conceptual approaches, and the process of analysing an artwork mirrors how we break down difficult concepts. Art ultimately offers a way of thinking that makes complexity more human and approachable, helping us see the bigger picture.