Loop, Project Based Research

This practice-based research project explored how dominant tech platforms such as Google and Meta shape the visibility, sustainability, and emotional experience of small business owners. The research focused on how algorithmic systems, paid promotion models, and platform dependency create structural disadvantages, where businesses must constantly produce content and invest resources simply to remain visible.
The project was realized through an experimental audio-visual video presented as the diary of a small business owner. Using repetition and looping visuals, the film reflects the feeling of being trapped in an ongoing cycle controlled by external systems. This structure mirrors the reality of platform dependency, where effort does not always lead to growth, and progress feels restricted by algorithmic control.
The process combined research and creative experimentation. I began by examining how algorithms influence visibility and how platforms extract value from users’ data and labour. I then translated these ideas into visual and sound form, using repeated actions, constrained framing, and cyclical editing to communicate stagnation and lack of control. Sound design played a key role in expressing emotional pressure, with volume shifts, distortion, and layered audio used to reflect stress, isolation, and moments of tension.
The final video presents these structural issues through a personal and emotional lens, using audiovisual storytelling to make abstract systems feel tangible. It demonstrates how practice-based research can translate complex digital and economic power dynamics into a sensory and human experience.