The importance of art is obvious in any place or time in which audio/visual stimulation is deficient, but the importance of art in a place and time such as ours, in which audio/visual stimulation is omnipresent, is at risk of being overlooked. People are bombarded by media and surrounded by technology. I use technology in my work because I, too, am surrounded by it. I am surrounded by machines, media, gadgets and tools, much of it in garage sales, thrift stores, second-hand shops, discard piles, and dumps. I would not have it any other way.
The river by which media is produced and floated to consumers must not flow in only one direction. Media and culture should not be considered read-only, to use technological terminology, but should rather always be read-write. The ability of the people to use the vocabulary of the media and culture they are swimming in is the difference between drowning and enjoying a renewable resource for artistic expression.
I surround myself with supposedly obsolete technology. To quote the SpaceCamp manifesto (http://www.spaceca.mp/manifesto.html), no technology is obsolete. Obsolete technology performs a function that is no longer needed. All technology, no matter how old, can be used to produce art, and this is a function that will always be needed. Technology is used by most people, but shockingly few seem to have the skills or encouragement to use the technology of the everyday (televisions, VCRs, DVD players, computers, phones) to express themselves. Just as cavemen used the technology of their day (pigments, carving tools) to make their world a more interesting place, I use the technology of today (and often yesterday) to do the same, and help others to join me in this effort.