I've been slagged off completely by the art world and I don't know whether fancy being slagged off by the literary world as well. It's just too much.

For me, being an artist with a high profile is a good thing for art.

I had become conscious of my physicality, aware of my presence and open to the ugly truths of the world. At the age of thirteen, I realised that there was a danger in innocence and beauty, and I could not live with both.

One thing that success has taught me is censorship.

Art is like a lover whom you run away from but who comes back and picks you up.

I feel physically ill if I don't make work, I don't create. I don't feel very good. I don't feel right, I feel wrong.

Because of the amount of press attention, people went to see this dirty bed, as if it was a freak show. But when they got there, they saw something else - the bed, stuff on the walls, whatever. For the Tate, it's the highest attendance they ever received for the Turner Prize show. There was a massive queue, and when you got into my bit, you couldn't move.