YOU ARE THE 0.01%

2019. Commissioned by Oil Street Art Space, Hong Kong.

In spring 2011, economist Joseph Stiglitz published an article titled “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%.” He writes, “The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year.” Later that year, “We are the 99%” became the rallying cry of Occupy Wall Street.

In September 2011, artist Andrea Fraser published an article titled “L’1%, C’EST MOI.” Detailing crimes committed by many of the world’s top collectors, she writes, “it must be abundantly clear by now that what has been good for the art world has been disastrous for the rest of the world.”

Inequality is far more serious in Hong Kong. In 2017 Hong Kong’s Gini index reached 0.54, the worst in 45 years, much higher than that of the United States at 0.41. The richest person Li Ka-shing’s net wealth (above HK$250,000,000,000) is more than 1,000,000 years of an average worker’s salary (at HK$17,500 a month).

In June 2018, three scientists published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled “The Biomass Distribution on Earth.” They estimated that humans account for only 0.01% of Earth’s biomass, but consume 30% of the biosphere’s total primary production.

We are the 99%. We are the 0.01%.