C4 Chat Ed : Ok, welcome Steve, let's begin

Petal : Congratulations Steve, where do you find your inspiration ?

Steve McQueen : Hrm. By just wanting to get on with it, basically! Just by doing inspires me, really.

Arty : What are you going to spend your prize money on?

Steve McQueen : Ah! I'm not too sure yet... I'm thinking of making a new work which is a little bit ambitious, and pricey!

Rokket : I heard you were inspired by a Buster Keaton movie, what was it and what inspired you about it?

Steve McQueen : It was 1928, Steamboat Bill Jnr... The moment in the movie where the man stands in front of a building, and the front falls onto him and he escapes through the open window, for some reason it had a poignance for me!

catherine h : Why do you live in Amsterdam?

Steve McQueen : Coz I like riding bikes :)

Arty : Do you make your own Christmas cards?

Steve McQueen : No.

Arty : What do you think of Chris Smith's criticism of the Turner Prize?

Steve McQueen : Sorry, I didn't hear that, I don't know what he said.

Malings : Was the Turner Prize a thing that you specifically wanted to win?

Steve McQueen : Um...good question... not really no. It wasn't a thing I'd specifically wanted to win, though it's one of those things that if you do get it, it's great. An added bonus.

carlospi : Steve: First of all, congratulations!! I am an artist and web designer. Have you thought of using the web as an exhibiting medium?

Steve McQueen : Erm...
Steve McQueen ponders that one
Steve McQueen : I have to investigate it more. I'm very interested in the 'net, and I need to get a little more information and a bigger understanding of it, to see the limits and possibilites really. Right now, it doesn't so much attract me.

catherine h : Which artists are your main influences?

Steve McQueen : Miles Davis, Toni Morrison, and... Bach.

catherine h : So no visual artists then!

Steve McQueen : The English countryside... and... um, no not really. I don't really get inspired by that, images and books. I'm most personally inspired by Marcel Duchamp.

candy : How did you launch yourself into the art world? Did you study at art college? How did you break into the big time?

Steve McQueen : At first I went to Goldsmith's University to study Art then I went to New York University to study Graduate Filmmaking, but I got a bit tired of that, and someone had asked me to participate in a group show at the Royal College. And that's how it started. That was the takeoff point, and it was a show called Acting Out.

candy : What did you think of the competition you were up against?

Steve McQueen : Well I admired the artists in the group. It goes like that really :)

Dauber : Is there any type of art that just doesn't turn you on at all?

Steve McQueen thinks.
Steve McQueen : No, I don't particularly have any particular types or anything but it is all about quality.

Malings : Are there any artists that you work with or would like to work with in the future?

Steve McQueen : Tricky. The Musician. I'd very much like to work with him.

miles : What are you ambitions now?

Steve McQueen : Hrm... I've got two big projects coming up and I'm hoping to collaborate with Tricky, and some other people and use the 20K from the Turner Prize to help do it!

treeboy : what do your family think of your art success, did they want you too follow this line of work?

Steve McQueen : Well my mother was ... very supportive of me. My dad always said that I should get a trade. They think it's fantastic now, and they're extremely happy for me.

Dauber : Do you earn a living as a film-maker?

Steve McQueen : Yes.

treeboy : what trade would you have been in if art was not an option?

Steve McQueen : Oh dear! Um...
Steve McQueen ponders.
Steve McQueen : A very boring one, probably in a factory somewhere.

Arty : Is it fair to compare such different forms of media such as still life, video etc?

Steve McQueen : Yes. Because it should be always about the content, and not the medium.

Arty : Has your daughter shown any artistic tendencies yet?

Steve McQueen chuckles
Steve McQueen : Yes! She's firstly sort of scribbling with her crayons as we speak. She's doing a vaseline painting!

miles : Why do you prefer working on black and white film Steve?

Steve McQueen : I don't miles...I've done colour too, I don't prefer black and white at all... it's just like, in the beginning I was known for that because my first three films were in black and white.

Malings : Are there any pieces of work that you have looked and and though 'I wish I'd done that'?

Steve McQueen : Oh yeah, absolutely.
Steve McQueen ponders
Steve McQueen : David Hammons - Snowballs. He was selling snowballs in the street in New York from small to x-large in a row, little teeny ones graduating to big handfuls. Beautiful work.

Rokket : What are you going to be doing for the millennium?

Steve McQueen : I haven't quite decided yet... that's a tricky one. You know, it's going to be either or - stay at home and do it quietly, or go out with a big bang.

candy : Which gallery have you been most proud of having your work displayed in?
strybjorn : where have you exhibited?

Steve McQueen : I think the Tate, you know! It's something you go in when you're 5 years old and look around, and the fact that me, myself, I'm now showing there... it's wonderful. Strybjorn, this, and Zurich, the Kunthalle.

Jura : Do you think that Turner Prize is over-hyped?

Steve McQueen : Yes. And very much so.

catherine h : Is humour important in your work?

Steve McQueen : It's an essential ingredient, but there are other ingredients in there as well :)

Arty : Do you fancy having a go at doing a commercial feature film?

Steve McQueen : One day, yes. When I get a good idea.

Ted : What would be your best piece of advice for struggling young artists?

Steve McQueen : Use your nose. Your instincts. You have to do what you feel is right, and you have to be honest with yourself about that.

Matt19 : where do you think british modern art is going?

Steve McQueen : It could go left, it could go right! I hope it goes left, I hope it goes to a situation where people who aren't necessarily encouraged to make art... will be.

C4 Chat Ed : ok, that's it everyone. Thanks Steve and congratulations...Thanks everyone see you soon...bye!

Steve McQueen : Thankyou for loggin in everyone. And thanks for your very interesting questions, and hope to see you again with my work sometime in London.

Ted : Thanks for coming Steve, good luck for the future...
strybjorn : cheers steve
Malings : Thanks
Rokket : Ta Steve
Starbuck : Bye Steve... congrats
treeboy : cheers matey
Lyds : Bye