This is the transcript of a talk given by Grayson Perry at the conference ‘Making Space’ at University College, London, in 2012. Further details of the conference can be found in the editorial of this issue.

(Images of Grayson Perry's work appear courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery. Some images from Grayson Perry's talk cannot be reproduced here for copyright reasons. Where this is the case, a note appears in the text and web links are provided where available.)