Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: The Reith Lectures

Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry gives the 2013 Reith Lectures, presented by Sue Lawley.

Marcel Duchamp famously declared that a urinal was a work of art. It sometimes seems that anything qualifies, from a pile of sweets on a gallery floor to an Oscar-winning actress asleep in a box. So how does the ordinary art lover decide?

In four lectures recorded in front of audiences in London, Liverpool and Londonderry, self-proclaimed "transvestite potter" Grayson Perry discusses what makes him an artist, and asks what are the limits of contemporary art. He reflects on the idea of `quality', and examines who and what defines what we see and value as art.

The mainstream media seems drawn to the idea of an avant-garde: work is described as "cutting edge", artists are "radical", ideas are "ground-breaking", "game-changing" or "revolutionary". Yet, Perry argues, art has lost its ability to shock; we have seen it all before.

Whilst recalling his own journey, from playing with paint as a child to being an award-winning successful artist, he reflects on being an outsider. He asks why men and women have made art throughout history, and discusses its central purpose: to heal psychic wounds and make meaning.