“For me, the illuminated tubes and lines that I have in most of my works are an extension of our household fluorescent tubes – how they exist in our different aspects of daily lives and have become a universal placemaking object. Like many of us, he grew up in a household where we use white fluorescent tubes for most of our spaces. Ong has always been fascinated with the imagery of the cool white fluorescent tube and its universal placemaking effect. If you need an Instagram fix, catch 'Star/KL' in the evening for the best effect. "I love the openness and rawness of the building designed by architect Ling Hao and felt that a new variation of Star could take place here,” says Ong, who is the co-founder of the spatial design studio POW Ideas and a lecturer in lighting design at a local university. We have had bats, foxes, monkeys and butterflies drawn to the space. Star/KL is located at the new extension of The Godown, which is situated in such an interesting location, at the threshold of nature (foothill of Bukit Nanas) and the concrete jungle. “As with Star in Penang, Star/KL started with a thorough analysis of the building architecture and materiality. Six years later, its reincarnation in KL is a radiant starburst, with a steady stream of visitors experiencing the capital’s glowing response to the arts and culture recovery effort. Star was nominated for the World’s Best in Spatial Art at the Media Architecture Biennale, Sydney, Australia, in 2016. The Star/KL, launched last weekend, is a project carried out in collaboration with the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana) as part of its Art In The City 2021 programme.īefore this iteration at The Godown, Ong’s Starfound a temporary home in an unfinished concrete building in Butterworth, Penang in 2015.īack then, the installation was a huge star that pierced through the walls and concrete slabs of the structure. ‘The Star/KL installation will be open during the day and night as I want people to see both the materiality of the structure during the day, and how it takes on an ethereal effect when it comes to life in the evening,’ says Ong. I would say that Star/KL is the artwork that best represents my ideas to date in terms of scale, architecture, materiality, technology and human experience,” says Ong. I have always tried to experiment with how artificial light and natural light could co-exist. “The installation will be open during the day and night as I want people to see both the materiality of the structure during the day, and how it takes on an ethereal effect when it comes to life in the evening. Ong’s light installation’s arrival is timely as it signals this Kuala Lumpur arts venue’s return to action after nearly two years in the pandemic shadows.Īccompanied by a soundscape designed by Reza Othman of experimental music project RAO, Star/KL, which will be running daily until March 26 at The Godown KL, shines the brightest at night.īut it is a sight to behold during the day too, with its acrylic tubes, steel and LED ropes juxtaposed against the cold concrete and metal of the Air Building. Its rays look like they pierce through all four floors of The Godown KL’s Air Building (an open-air extension of the main space) and extend beyond this area – even stretching out and touching some nearby buildings. Contemporary artist Jun Ong’s site-specific installation Star/KL is an explosion of light, with fragments scattered near and far.