Bali-based lighting designer Budiman Ong wants to make designs more accessible and relevant

When Budiman Ong was a studying at the Greys School of Art in Robert Gordonuni University in Scotland almost 23 years ago, he was the only Asian student in the entire campus. “The education was eye opening, but I think my confidence in design also stemmed from praises from my professor. Coming from Sumatra, Indonesia, my way of thinking was different from those in Scotland so they were very attracted to that,” said the Indonesian-Chinese designer who founded lighting studio Ong Cen Kuang (Ong’s Chinese name) in 2008.

The concept of design in the western world was miles away from Indonesia, where craft was rich but typically associated with quotidian uses such as folding paper for religious ceremonies in Chinese culture or cheap tourist souvenirs rather than revered objects.

Yet, Ong was already attuned to the beauty of handmade objects from a young age. An early memory he remembered fondly was a wooden horse swing he received as a child. Even now, he is drawn to the stories behind artisanal objects – how they are made, what they are made of, where the materials come from and how each piece is special, being made by hand.

For a time as a design student, Ong was more captivated by machinery and making products perfect. “But as I got older and the more I grew as an individual in my way of thinking, I started to feel that craft is more important,” he shared.

He elaborated: “Based in Indonesia, we have a lot of manpower and artisans with good skills. If we don't use that, we can’t give back to the community. Also, many handmade products cannot be replaced by machinery. Even if a machine can make an irregular or organic shape, it’s still different; from one person to another making a product by hand, the products will not be perfectly matched.”

Ong finds beauty in this imperfection and believes many others do too. “These days, so many things are mass produced coming out of factories, so people want individuality. And I think this is the time for us to showcase that,” said Ong, who sank his roots in Bali after returning from abroad.

We caught up with Ong when he was in Singapore in September for the FIND Design Fair Asia, a trade event for designers, brands and businesses in Southeast Asia. The designer presented four products at Emerge – a showcase within the Fair curated by Design Anthology magazine featuring 60 regional designers based on the theme Craft + Industry: Man + Machine. The discourse focused on products made by industrial processes, the handwork of artisans or the marrying of both.

Clearly, Ong’s design approach leans toward the celebration of craft. His light pendants and lamps turn common or unexpected materials into beautiful, sculptural works. Many of them are found in homes, restaurants or hotels all over the world – from Bali to Paris. They are distributed in Europe, USA and now in Singapore by Craft Axis.

The Mekar standing lamp that looks like a dollop of whipped cream is made surprisingly from zippers – a discovery that always elicits surprise and delight. The repetitive geometry of the Lipat standing lamp was inspired by the art of origami, which Ong said originated from folding paper hats in primary school.

The Kentang collection highlights sheets of banana paper (made from pulp derived from the trunks of banana trees) that are layered into a small tower of ruffles that emits soft, diffused light. “We buy the banana paper from a paper artisan in Bali, who makes the paper from banana plants in his garden and sells it to make items like blinds but that we use to make lamps. I love that I know where the material comes from,” said Ong.

He shares that the organic form is a result of shaping the lamps by hand. “When I design, I don't draw because I think drawing restricts me. Rather, I try to understand the material well, see what its character is and how I can apply it so that it becomes something more, something different.” In the studio, many half-finished designs attest to this intuitive process. “We will come back to them. It’s not about making the company bigger; it’s about telling stories in the material sense.”

The unpredictable character of his works celebrates “broken symmetry”. He elaborated: “I believe that as humans, we are attracted to symmetry but if we throw in some sort of disturbance, the product becomes more interesting and intriguing; it’s not so predictable.”

In another example of the element of surprise in his work, the gossamer-like Bunga Kertas lamp belies the fact that they are made from metal. “Metal has the tendency to be solid; you think you cannot shape it, but we did. I like to play with people’s perspective of materials. I think that is what drives me for a lot of my projects,” said Ong. It uses a traditional technique of crocheting metal wire into malleable sheets to make wedding accessories.

Ong says that when you believe in the craftsmanship, you can empower people. “The people who work with the craft can be proud of what they are doing, and it changes them. It’s a small thing but it is important for them to understand that. If they understand then they can do their best, and the quality will be there.”

Each product from OCK is delivered in a paper box made in the studio. Within it is a card that is signed off by the makers and others involved in the processes. “When the customer opens the box, they feel connected to the maker. And when our staff signs off, they feel a sense of ownership.”

Aside from lighting, Ong also showcased a carpet at Emerge. The Terumbu Carpet is made from felt produced from recycled PET bottles, based on the technique of ‘benih’ – the creation of various textures of bigger and chunky yarn through hand crocheting, knitting, tying and braiding. It is one of the non-lighting products he designed for Jia by OCK – a home decoration brand he founded in 2021 with business partners Yang Yang Hartono and Rudi Michael Winata, featuring more than 40 brands, many of them Indonesian products.

“It started with the COVID-19 pandemic. No orders were coming in and projects were postponed but we still had artisans. Within a month, we designed and launched a collection because we had all the time. We had a small house in Canggu left empty for a few years, so we turned that into a shop. As we didn’t have enough products, we started to curate designs from friends. We have many friends who are designers and during the pandemic, they were starting their own brands and wanted to work with us,” explained Ong.

From products to a shop, Ong now also organises events. For example, in December 2022, Jia by OCK curated Kiosks O2 in Plataran Canggu. The resort’s tropical landscape was transformed into a three-day design exhibition-cum-creative market showcasing local brands and artisans.

The laid-back festival-like atmosphere was meant to make design accessible to the masses. “We thought about summer in Europe where people lay their own rugs in the park. So, we laid down lots of rugs and cushions on the floor. We had a workshop for hands-on participation, and a stage for musicians and food tenants. Food brings people together; some people stayed the whole day. Visitors were lying down, bringing kids, dogs and even cats in their bags. It was perfect,” said Ong, clearly delighted.

When asked if all these other ventures have fed into his design journey, he says that he has become more social. “I’m actually very much a homebody,” he laughed. More seriously, he shared that he is “more creative than he has ever been before because he had been forced into doing different things.”

He elaborated: “Before, all I thought about was lighting. Now, we are going to launch a whole collection of rugs next year. We are going to design shelving and stools as well. For Jia by OCK, we will design lighting, but they will be different from Ong Cen Kuang. I want to explore more shapes, and a different way of working.”

Another community-based project he has initiated that took place from Aug 30 to Nov 10 this year is In Form Vol. 1 – Rough Edges with Maverick Lee. It is the first of such artistic showcases, highlighting the stonework of the Bali-based Singaporean artist. The next showcase will be on the Bali-based Japanese artisan who makes the banana paper for his lamps.

“Lee does things with stone, metal and solid wood; his products are very soulful and has a strong identity. So, it’s not about promoting only Indonesian craft. It’s about the idea of craft. It’s international.”