Video art has always been a controversial business, and few artists have won
the argument as definitively as Steve McQueen. The Ealing-born film-maker
won the Turner Prize back in 1999 for his black-and-white homage to Buster
Keaton – and for those who don’t rate the Turner Prize, he has just won a
Bafta for his first feature film, Hunger. Not that McQueen is one
to worry about prizes, particularly. His impressive red kilt might have
outshone his tux-clad peers at the Baftas – and he was, of course, a
gracious winner of the Carl Foreman Award for promising British talent – but
McQueen could clearly take it or leave it.
As far as he is concerned, the story of the hunger striker Bobby Sands needed
to be told after 27 years of being “swept under the carpet”, but it was
never meant to be a crowd-pleaser. “This film needed to be made. I’m
extremely pleased with the response, but if you do your best and you can
still look in the mirror afterwards, that’s enough. If you feel nervous
about what people will think of something then you shouldn’t be doing it.”
The 39-year-old artist has always stayed deliberately out of London’s cultural
scrum, choosing instead to live in Amsterdam. Even his Turner Prize win was
overshadowed by Tracey Emin’s notorious soiled bed – which was fine by him.
“All the candyfloss that comes with it, it’s nice,” he said at the time,
“but what I’m interested in is doing it. I’m interested in evidence.”
You can’t deny his talent or humility, but McQueen’s aversion to “candyfloss”
has also earned him a reputation for being difficult and unpredictable at
times. You can see why – between chatting politely and thanking me warmly
for the interview, he refused to discuss subjects including other artists,
art spaces, other directors, other films and creative influences, with a
swift “not interested”. But get him on to the right subject, and answers
spill out before you can catch them. For one, he is excited about his next
project – representing Britain in this year’s Venice Biennale.
After passionately describing the minutiae of a Venice sunset, he tells me how
excited he is to be making new work and how honoured to be representing his
country. Naturally, he won’t yet tell us what he is working on, revealing
only that he is tinkering with a fewideas.
But whatever he makes, he is fierce about wanting it to be judged with a clean
slate, or screen. “I’m not interested in all that nonsense,” he spits, when
I ask him whether he thinks that Hunger has opened more doors for
him as an artist. “It’s all about the work. W. O. R. K. When
people look at my work in Venice, I don’t want them to think: ‘This is by
the guy that made that film. No, no, no, no, no. I want to be judged on the
work and the work alone, not work from the past, or could be doing in the
future. No. You don’t have to know anything about me – I’m uninterested in
that. End of story.”
Curse that pesky Bafta.
What are your favourite . . .
Film experiences
Zero de Conduite
I first encountered it in 1988, and it’s my favourite movie. Jean Vigo is a
great film-maker.
North by North West
It was about 1996, and the audience gave the film a standing ovation. That was
one of my favourite moments in cinema.
Magnificent Seven
I remember going to see it in Hampstead when I was about seven and touching
the walls, which were carpet, and thinking that was very strange.
The old Lumière cinema, Soho
The cinema was underground and it was like a whale’s stomach in there – it was
wonderful going into the belly of this sort of animal. You felt cocooned. I
miss that cinema dearly.
There Will be Blood
I went to see it in the Curzon cinema in Soho on the first weekend. In the
audience were all these talented young British actors – they were there to
see Daniel Day-Lewis giving a great performance. There was a buzz of
watching something great.
Cities
Venice
My God, the light in Venice. I recently came out of the Giardini and there was
the most beautiful sunset. I could have died right there and been at peace.
Tokyo
It’s a culture shock, but it’s so wonderful. I had a bit of Lost
in Translationmoment there – you get a bit sort of high on the
melancholy of it all.
Sydney
You walk round and there are all these trees with bats hanging upside down.
That was a very new thing for me.
New York
In the early 1990s when I was out there as a student it was so vibrant. It was
all there.
Caracas
What struck me in Venezuela was that men and women actually dance with each
other! It was wonderful.
Musicians
Radiohead
I think they’re a pretty amazing group, and I like it that they can be a
commercial success and very good musicians at the same time.
Miles Davis
He didn’t repeat himself, he changed music two or three times. He was one of
the best artists there was.
Glenn Gould
He played Bach and it was just amazing.
Tricky
I’m a big fan – Maxinquaye is one of my favourite albums.
Nina Simone
Incredible. She has saved my life a couple of times. Sometimes you need
crutches.
Things to do in London
Walking on Hampstead Heath
On a clear crisp day it’s beautiful.
Kew Gardens
I love going there for a picnic in the summer.
Riding upstairs on a double decker
One of the secret pleasures of London. Long rides with a partner is, I think,
the most romantic thing that you can do – having a chat and seeing the
world. It’s like flying.
Tea at Maison Bertaux, Soho
It is a really cosy place and has wonderful cakes. Derek Jarman used to drink
tea there. I like to have a tea and cake and a chat with a friend.
Tate Modern on a Sunday
I love walking across the bridge towards the South Bank after reading the
papers in a café.
Television shows
Tiswas
I’m showing my age now. Tiswas was crazy – it was kids’ anarchy
television.
The Singing Detective
By Dennis Potter – that was when television was television.
The Wire
This show saved my life, too, in a way, strangely enough. It wasn’t about bad
and good, or right or wrong. It was about being human, and all that we can
be.
The West Wing
It’s educational, political – it’s like being a fly on the wall. It’s
magnetising.
David Attenborough’s Life on Earth
You get to see aspects of the world that you would never see unless it was on
television.
— Hunger is out now on DVD
