Stolen Poverty

ambiguous works, posters, 2022 digital print 420×594 mm (A2)

I had already come to understand the greed of the wealthy through the downfall of my own family. I knew the nature of someone who possesses ninety-nine nyang but still covets one more.
But I never imagined — not even in my wildest dreams — that the rich would also covet poverty.

I hadn’t realized that their dazzling educational backgrounds and careers weren’t enough for them — that they would go so far as to steal poverty itself, turning it into yet another colorful episode to enrich their already colorful lives.

It was only after our poverty was stolen from us that I finally felt a deep, pitch-black despair — one I hadn’t even experienced when the rich took everything else from us.

— From “Stolen Poverty” by Park Wan-suh

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How shocking is the idea of even having your poverty stolen from you?

I felt powerless.
The more I read and reread that sentence, the more I felt the helplessness of my own self — unable to do anything.

Park Wan-suh’s Stolen Poverty exposes the toxic effects of false consciousness in a society obsessed with wealth, and the deep despair it leaves behind.

Whether it’s the poor refusing to admit their poverty, or the rich romanticizing and desiring the experience of being poor — both reflect a shameless vanity.
She unflinchingly reveals our foolishness and weakness, our emptiness and pettiness, laid bare for all to see.