Damien Hirst

From The Clash to Joni Mitchell. Artist Damian Hirst shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young.

Life, death, desire, fear, beauty, horror - Damian's creative preoccupations are standard fair; his art - using sharks, maggots, butterflies, glass, formaldehyde and even sometimes paint - is not. His best known works have become iconic symbols of contemporary culture and his exhibitions and auctions attract attention the way a carcass attracts flies.

Growing up in Leeds, Damian's mother was something of an early artistic influence - she had dots painted on the front door and whenever Damien said he'd finished a drawing, she'd lay another sheet of paper down and tell her son "carry on."

He once said, "People don't like contemporary art but all art starts life as contemporary. I'm sure there were people in caves going 'I like your cave but I hate that crap you've got on the wall'."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013