FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Vice Blog

SOUTH KOREA - A POT TO PISS IN (AND SOME FUCKING KID TO INTERVIEW YOU ABOUT IT)

Maia Lee is a 24-year-old painter who grew up in Nepal, and makes intricate, 60-s-like paintings like this one here. She also makes a good little zine called Chillzine with two of her friends. They all share a studio that they rent from a very old South Korean lady who is very wealthy, but still uses a piss-pot, which she empties into the tree in front of Maia's door every morning. The girls told us they'd never talked much with their landlady, but sure, they'd go up and ask her about her piss pot and her dead husband. Why not?

Advertisement

Maia Lee: How many buildings do you own?

Landlady: I own five houses and one big building that I gave to my son. I gave it to him because I am going to die soon. I'm old.

How did you make your money?

My husband left me a long time ago; I don't know if he's alive or not. He disappeared during the Korean War, and so I went down to Pusang by train. I was 26. When the train arrived, I followed the sea of people, because I didn't know anyone. I stayed low, with a group of old ladies, and ended at a fabric and clothing market. I just did what they did. I bought clothes and took them back to department stores in Seoul, where people were buying them.

I made a lot of money this way. My business went really well. I already had two kids, so I didn't think of marrying again – there were a lot of single moms at that time. But to protect myself, I just lied to everyone and said that my husband was in the states making money, to give the impression that I wasn't single. Back then, people didn't really ask each other personal questions so it was pretty easy for me. Some of my family members were selling gloves but I made the most money because I was good at it. It's not difficult. I just got a lot of good material and sold it for a really cheap price. I was famous for having good quality stuff. And no one envied me, because I kept saying it was my husband sending me money.

What's going on with you and the pot you empty in the tree out there? The one with all those flies?

There are flies in the trees because I've been pouring pee and food out there, to fertilize the tree. I normally use the toilet, but the tree was dying. I'm not going to do it anymore. The guy downstairs has been complaining. He said, "Don't put your stuff down there." I don't use the pot usually. It's for the tree. I grew up in farms and that's the way we used to do it. Shit and piss is how you grow plants and vegetables. My mom and my aunt taught me that when I was young. When I was 18, I remember, I felt pity watching them do that, and I didn't want to see them doing it anymore, so I made a huge bag and I'd fill it up and strap it over my shoulders and do it all myself.

That's kind of your thing—doing it yourself.

Living alone is the best way, but you girls are young and should marry. If a good person comes around, tell him you love him and hold onto him. But… people are the scariest thing, aren't they?