Saturday, 4 October 2014

Grayson Perry: Identity


“No, I’m not bored with transvestism. That would be silly – I’m a transvestite. The dress is only one element of the psycho-sexual process. Just because you don’t have a dress on doesn’t stop you being a tranny, in the same way as, if you’re not in bed with a man, it doesn’t stop you being gay...

“I was reading a book by Julian Baggini about identity, and he said, ‘I is a verb masquerading as a noun.’ You perform yourself. It’s like going for a walk, you carry it along with you and it changes all the time. So the idea that there is a solid, consistent, tangible thing is an illusion.”


The ever-illuminating Grayson Perry is profiled in The Guardian Weekend magazine. 

His Channel 4 series Who Are You? begins on October 23rd; an accompanying free display of 14 new portraits is at the National Portrait Gallery from October 25th.

PS Fagburn is currently reading Philippa Perry's How To Stay Sane. He is finding it most useful, though fears it may be too late.

1 comment:

  1. He's currently trending on twitter with his New Statesman piece on "Default Man".
    I'm not sure what I think of it. I think he's right mostly but some of it I disagree with. I don't think what he writes about is coming to an end. Or anywhere near it. Or if it ever will...

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