In artist Jun Ong’s luminous installations, rays of light pierce through concrete, stone, and steel. In his ongoing Stars series features LED strips that intersect with 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. Beams of light appear to permeate stone and concrete, simultaneously contained by the buildings yet impervious to their solidity.
Exploring themes of time and space, “HALO” radiates from within the Xiu De Bai Pavilion, a former Buddhist temple in Yan Shui, Tainan, Taiwan. “Built in 1919, the temple has history tracing back to the Qing dynasty and was pivotal in supporting the community,” Ong says.
“Light in Buddhism is an important metaphor for enlightenment—the awakening or the understanding of truth,” says a statement from YueJin Art Museum. Just as Buddha, in addition to sacred figures in other religions, is often portrayed with a bright aura or halo around the head or body, Ong envisions the burst of light as a means of illuminating our surroundings and our past.
“HALO” builds upon a work titled “STAR/BUTTERWORTH,” which he installed in Penang, Malaysia, in 2015. The artist was inspired by the idiosyncratic designs of Buckminster Fuller, like his geodesic domes, and M.C. Escher’s optical illusions.
He says, “Using only two materials—tensile steel cables and LED strips—I manipulated light and architecture to create a colossal object that seemingly burst out of the building like a glitch in time.”
For “HALO,” Ong created a starburst form that can also be interpreted as a ring of light, reimagining a 2022 piece called “STAR/KL,” which he installed in brutalist interior in Kuala Lumpur. “I hope that the Star series continues to emerge across different cities and cultures and possibly also in interesting terrains, like caves, the desert, or even forests,” Ong says.
Commissioned by for the 2024 Yuejin Art Museum Festival, “HALO” remains on view through February 16. If you’re in The Netherlands, you can also see Ong’s piece “POLARIS” on view as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival through January 19. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
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