Niels Van Tomme: There's a remarkable passage in A Space Exodus, 2009, your video that imagines a Palestinian migration into outer space. Following a dramatic landing on the moon, we hear a voiceover declaring: "One small step for a Palestinian, one giant leap for mankind." We then see you planting the Palestinian flag. As you recast a well-known historical event into the harsh reality of Palestine's political realm, the viewer experiences a double estrangement, in which the fantastic merges with the political. How did you arrive at such a playful imaginary?

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Although in many ways the democratizing power of technology is still nascent, its impacts are readily apparent. The twenty-first century experience, exemplified by the relentlessness of twenty-four-hour news streams and the seamless continuum from YouTube sensation to late-night talk-show guest, suggests that technology is necessary.

This democratizing power and, more importantly, the technologies that enable it, are central to the work of Andrew Bucksbarg. His practice is far ranging. Bucksbarg insists on defining his work in technologically democratizing terms: "I see much of my work, particularly my performance pieces, as being about experiences that are both democratic and participatory, embodying freedom in its vastness and its responsibility. I think of freedom in its pro-social quality," he explains.