Everybody expects things to be very visible. The more money they spend the more visibility they want. Media art tends to be a little expensive, although I am not sure that is that much more expensive than traditional art forms. More likely, media art is a bit trendy and people want to be on the band wagon. That means the wagon has to make money.
Bigger projects make money.
I would rather not work to deadlines and PR agendas. The inflation is built into the system. Producers look to maximise turnover on projects, so that funders then feel that they have been successful at end of year audits. So long as the PR goes well then everyone is happy. Except perhaps the artist.