By artist Jun OngIn the luminous installations, light rays penetrate through concrete, stone and steel. In his continuing Stars series features LED strips that intersect the human-built environment in monumental, illuminated geometries.
Ong’s latest piece, ‘HALO’, relies on an existing architectural structure to provide a site-specific framework. Rays of light appear to penetrate stone and concrete, simultaneously enclosed within the buildings and yet impervious to their solidity.
Exploring themes of time and space, ‘HALO’ radiates from the Xiu De Bai Pavilion, a former Buddhist temple in Yan Shui, Tainan, Taiwan. “Built in 1919, the temple has a history dating back to the Qing Dynasty and played a crucial role in supporting the community,” said Ong.
“Light in Buddhism is an important metaphor for enlightenment – awakening or understanding the truth,” said a statement from the YueJin Art Museum. Just as Buddha, among sacred figures in other religions, is often depicted with a bright aura or halo around the head or body, Ong imagines the burst of light as a means of illuminating our environment and our past.
“HALO” builds on a work entitled “STAR/BUTTERWORTH”, which he installed in Penang, Malaysia in 2015. The artist was inspired by the idiosyncratic designs of Buckminster Fuller, such as his geodesic domesand the optical illusions of MC Escher.
He says: “With just two materials – tensile steel cables and LED strips – I manipulated light and architecture to create a colossal object that seemed to burst from the building like a disturbance in time.”
For ‘HALO’, Ong created a starburst shape that can also be interpreted as a ring of light, reimagining a 2022 piece called ‘STAR/KL’, which he installed in a brutalist interior in Kuala Lumpur. “I hope the Star Series continue to be released in different cities and cultures and possibly in interesting terrains such as caves, the desert or even forests,” says Ong.
Commissioned before 2024 Yuejin Art Museum Festival“HALO” will remain on view through February 16. If you are in the Netherlands, you can also see Ong’s piece “POLARIS” as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival until January 19. Find more about the artist website And Instagram.
