CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE ART KIND

The Old In Out (saggy version)

Sarah Lucas

Sarah Lucas, 'The Old In Out (saggy version)', 1998, cast polyurethane, 41.3 x 50.8 x 36.8 cm. Courtesy, Sadie Coles H.Q. London

'I made a series of urine coloured toilets. This is one of two that came out floppy. They look fluid. They are liquid at first – before they set. I like the way the colour changes in each one.

'I’ve done many toilet pieces – including photographs of myself on the toilet. Generally I’ve used old toilets for their grubby value. It was nice to make ones that look quite smart – like antidotes. I like the idea of something uncouth being elegant.

'Toilets are unsung heroes of our hygienic lives. Why don’t we celebrate them? It’s fascinating that the water goes round and round the system, gets cleaned and comes back round. There are contraceptives in the water so women get infertile... quite shocking things. We live with a level of impurity. It’s one thing I like about not bothering to make anything perfectly. It’s partly making things easy for myself but if you don’t live with imperfections you get stuck on one thing. Nothing is pure. Everything you do doesn’t go away. Some trace is there.

'People worry about whether this is art and don’t ask that about other things – even abstract things. I like to play with that element of, "Is it art?" I come from a background where that question was very much on people’s minds. But I like to fulfil it. I like my things to be accessible and irreverent at the same time.

'My background is an important part of what I do. I need to justify myself against those earlier values. What you are in the first place is inescapable. It’s a question of what you do with it.'