By Caroline Briggs Entertainment reporter, BBC News

The panel told reporters their stories

Turner Prize nominee Phil Collins held a press conference with former reality show contestants in London as part of his entry for the �25,000 prize.

"But is it art?" is the perennial question asked of the Turner Prize.

But the question hanging in the air at Phil Collins' press conference was not is it art, but is it reality - or just TV?

The splendour of London's Cafe Royale played host to Collins' conference for his Return of the Real entry for the �25,000 prize.

But the press conference, with "survivors" of various reality TV shows prepared to reveal the "reality" of such shows, was not your average event.

Hackles were raised when hardened hacks were asked to sign a disclaimer before they could even enter.

Others were just mildly miffed. More still were intrigued.

Exploitation love-fest

It transpired that Collins' team was filming the whole shebang, making us - the media circus monkeys - the subject of his art.

The result was a big exploitation love-fest.

There isn't anyone else you can go other than to the people that dumped on you Jan Melia Former Wife Swap contestant

Cameras were trained on the media, who, in turn, had their cameras focused on the nine "victims" of Supernanny, Wife Swap, Trisha et al.

All felt they had been exploited in some way - manipulated by seemingly friendly producers who ruined their lives and spat them out in the TV production line.

The exploited were talking to those who exploited them, who were in turn being exploited in the name of art. But were they?

And were the panel not exposing themselves to further media manipulation, which, they say, brought them there in the first place?

Some would argue they were looking for another 15 minutes, but the panel insisted they were just sticking up for themselves.

'Work-shy'

"It's the only avenue available to us," said Jan Melia, 42, from Nottingham, who claims her family were unfairly made to look dirty and work-shy on Channel 4's Wife Swap.

"There isn't anyone else you can go other than to the people that dumped on you."

Collins's work examines the rise of the reality TV phenomenon

Ms Melia's story is an extreme example of what each of the former contestants said they endured.

She claims her children were bullied at school and beaten up by other youths who repeated words used in the show's voiceover.

Ms Melia said she felt misled and betrayed by production company RDF. She "begged" them to make changes when she saw an early cut of the programme.

RDF has said Ms Melia's concerns were dealt with before broadcast and the company was "satisfied" the show was a fair representation.

Ms Melia, who works in the arts, said she was pleased to become a modern art work, adding that art should be about people and reality.

"A sheep in a box I don't really understand, but this I do understand because it reflects real life," she said.

'Cultural phenomenon'

Collins took on the role of host, encouraging people to tell tales of teeth falling out after a botched �184,000 cosmetic surgery makeover, and a life left in tatters after taking a lie detector test on a daytime chat show.

Phil Collins' company, based at Tate Britain, is called Shady Lane

The Glasgow-based artist, who has set up a production company, Shady Lane, based in an office at the Tate Britain, said: "There is a cultural phenomenon around talk shows, makeover shows and reality shows, which have dominated the schedules over the past eight years."

"This is a multi-million pound industry and they rely upon the participation of ordinary people.

"On TV there is currently no specific form of redress. If the entertainment industry has failed you in some specific way, there is no place for you to articulate your problems."

Collins will pick up �25,000 if he is announced as winner of the Turner Prize on 4 December.

But the artist shied away from saying whether he would split his prize money with his exploited subjects.