Dark Matter, Bright Visions

Interview with Jun Ong

In this interview, the artist shares their journey into light art, combining their architectural background with creative exploration of light as a medium. From public installations to collaborations with sound artists, they discuss how light shapes emotions and narratives in their works.

How did you decide to become a light artist?

I’d always had an affinity towards art since young but decided to take the architecture path instead. During my studies in Europe, I stumbled upon the works of American pioneering light artist, Dan Flavin and that opened up a whole world of using light as medium. I decided to pursue art after my architectural studies, and my ideas are mostly formed by combining my interest in geometries, space and structures and expressed using light. At the studio, my team and I develop research and design in sensorial deprivation, performative lighting and illuminative psychology.

Why do you prefer working with light on any other media? Do you also make different artworks?

After ten years of working with lighting and also creating public art, I have been able to experiment with a wide array of materials. I usually work with materials that can be manipulated using natural and artificial lighting such as resin, dichroic film, paper, mirrors etc. I am also recently into organic materials such as rattan and biomaterials. I am curious with the fragility yet complexity of these natural made materials and how that could be incorporated into my works and thought process. Most of my works are large in scale, but in line with the new materiality I am working with, I also explore making smaller objects to investigate how lighting can work within interior & domesticated spaces. I enjoy working with lighting as it also allows me to pair it with other mediums such as sound, movements, and programming. In 2023, I completed a permanent work “Astra” on top of a skyscraper in Singapore. The sculpture is a performative “machine” as part of the rooftop club that incorporates sophisticated dynamic lighting with DJ sound performances. I am very much inspired by nature and its relationship with the built environment. In 2023, I also designed a kinetic set design merging light with live tree branches for a death-inspired theatre performance in Malaysia called “So Happy I Could Die.” Light can be both tangible and intangible. In 2019, I collaborated with the Centre of Quantum Technologies (CQT) in Singapore to create “QUANTUM,” an interactive installation using intangible laser light, mirrors and servo motors inspired by the quantum computer research of Richard Feynman and displayed at the ArtScience Museum.

“I have always lived much of my life in my inner world. The inner mind sky is a place of richness and abundance, stretching so much more infinitely than the reality plane we perceive in the day to day.”

What is Malaysia’s current art situation and what would you suggest to the younger generation?

The art scene is exciting – there is a surge of tech and also installation artists. When I started my career ten years ago, almost no one else was creating light or installation artworks in Malaysia. I didn’t have anyone to look up to and had to manoeuvre through my artistic career alone with the support of great collaborators and clients. There is also a rise of established fine artists who would usually work with traditional mediums but are now experimenting with technology such as AR, motion sensors, data analytics & 3d scanning to create immersive experiences. Younger artists, including myself, are constantly seeking new ways to preserve the rich heritage and craft found in Malaysia, through contemporary art and immersive forms of narratives.

“The idea of experimenting with how light, when paired with another medium could shape our minds, beliefs and emotions has also led me to my current research!

Can you talk about your Star installation concept and realisation process which beyond its beauty looks very complex to install.

The “Star” is a series of public art installations that evolve and morph depending on its host city. Inspired by the various stages and characteristics of stars in the cosmos, the installations are imagined as the unseen energy that exists within the city or a particular building where the work takes place. The first version,”STAR/BUTTERWORTH” was in 2015, in a sleepy industrial town of Butterworth, Penang in Malaysia. At that time, I was particularly inspired by the geometrical works of Buckmisnter Fuller and MC Escher’s brilliant optical illusions when conceiving this work – located in a monumental unfinished concrete building. Using only two materials – tensile steel cables and LED strips, loads of them, I combined my two favourite mediums, light and architecture to create a colossal object that seemingly burst out of the building like a glitch in time – giving new life to the particular locale. The work gained international recognition and catapulted my artistic career. I have gone on to creating more “Star” in various cities such as Kuala Lumpur (“STAR/KL” in 2022), Singapore (“ASTRA” in 2023) and most recently in Tainan (“HALO” in 2024) and Amsterdam (“POLARIS” in 2024), which are currently part of light festivals. Early next year, I am extremely excited to debut “OURA” in the coast of Shekou, Shenzhen – marking the sixth iteration of the “Star” series and also my first permanent light sculpture in China. I hope that the “Star” series continues to emerge beyond cities but possibly in interesting terrains – like caves, the desert or even forests.

What are you working on at the moment?

I have always been very curious about the relationship between sound and light. I have created sound-responsive light installations and have also collaborated with experimental Malaysian sound artists such as flica, supershelhiel and cumboard to design immersive soundscapes for my works. In my recent geological-inspired immersive installation “Krystal Valley”, I collaborated with RhythmofSati, a Thai sound sculptor, to create a meditative sound bath merging lighting, modular synthesizers and traditional instruments. In “Krystal Valley,” I also had my first sound-light performance, “Sonus Luminus” with Sarawak-born classical pianist Hii Mei Lin creating magic with sound and light to the likes of legendary Minimalist composer Philip Glass. The music of Glass has been a pivotal inspiration in many of my early works. Hence, I will continue developing more complex installations integrating sound and light. The idea of experimenting with how light, when paired with another medium could shape our minds, beliefs and emotions has also led me to my current research – the relationship between light and religion. Beyond the cosmos, I’d like to see how light is used in rituals, ceremonies and religious architecture, and possibly create new works revolving around these findings.

Dark Matter, Bright Visions

Credits:

Artist: Jun Ong / @junihaoni
Interview: Maria Abramenko  / @mariabramenko
Assistant: Annalisa Fabbrucci / @annalisa_fabbrucci

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