MATRIXXMODULATION
Jon Lodge
Northcutt Steele Gallery, MSU Billings, Billings, MT
February 28 - March 28, 2019
JPEG/MPEG Time Window Progression (Life as an Artist) Performance by the Artist
March 13, 2019
Curator and Interim Gallery Director: Sherri Cornett

Picture
Award winning, nationally-recognized, Billings, Montana artist Jon Lodge presented this outward manifestation of his intriguing mind, worked with students to develop works unique to this exhibition and shared his life and inspirations during an interactive, planned/random Happening, which included musician Alex Nauman, the audience and ... Big Gulp cups.  Knowing Jon for the last 20 or so years has been a never ending journey down rabbit holes, through other dimensions, and, overall, looking at life’s matrix, the organization of nature, through music, math  technology and, of course, art, in new ways. At once simple and mutated. 
Photos by Kari Adams
Calling on his studies of jazz improvisation and composition at Berklee College of Music, his long stint at Artcraft Printing and his experiments and experiences presenting almost one hundred shows and performances across the Northwest, Jon invents systems/frameworks within which planned randomness and a state of flux occur. His work is in the permanent collections of the Yellowstone, Missoula and Nicolaysen Art Museums, at the University of Wyoming Art Museum and GSA (Government Services Administration) Rocky Mountain Region in Denver. ​​
In the words of one of my students, Terri Porta: "His work is more than a piece of art on the wall, it is a conceptual exercise of pattern recognition and a journey into universal principals. He exhibits the extensive and studied byproduct of processes extracted from the world of planned randomness and science. This is the randomness we experience on a daily basis and yet have no idea of the gravitational coordination controlling it. The diverse and yet minimalistic approach to the work creates a subtext of awareness for the elements and puzzling realities harbored beneath fabrication, surface tension and random sequences."
Photos by David Correa
Crystalline Strata N° 3 (Matrix Modulation)
graphite, gesso on Fuji helium-neon laser sensitive
aluminum printing plate
Collaboration with Jodi Lightner's students, using randomized instructions created by Jon
Collaborators: Kari Adams, David Correa, Carrie Davis, Britney Patek, Angel Shandy, Morgan Syring, Jodi Lightner 
Lightwave Transmission Intensity Reference (Random Variable Modulation)
Constant: human finger, bone, nail, flesh, nerve  endings, iPhone photo diode/crystal silicon lens 
Variable: architectural window and wall matrix, variable hand held camera movement mP4 video
Using their camera phones with a finger placed over the lens, students randomized Jon's instructions to create individual videos, which were then placed in a video grid composite and a second video juxtaposing two videos at a time.
Collaboration with Keeara Rhoades' New Media 1 students:
Jon Lodge, Carter West, Elizabeth Fisher, Verity Larsen, Megan DelCamp, Janessa Williams, Kallie Giese, Hannah Harsha, Ivy Bird, Morgan Syring, Keeara Rhoades, Parker J Rhodes-Wetzstein
LINEAR PERMUTATION ROW 4x Fracture: 1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9   10 11 12
12-Channel Matrix X Modulations (1 min loop + difference between shortest capture to generate a synchronized loop = 1:48)

  1. Jon Lodge: moving through interior space: in&out, up&down, off&on—generating variations of duration, intensity, pulse and interval / iOS blast filter
  2. Carter West: touch lamp varying intensity tungsten light / duotone filter
  3. Elizabeth Fisher: laptop screen playing song “Bob” by NoFX / tint filter
  4. Verity Larsen: through side car window while driving / no filter
  5. Megan DelCamp: moving out: moving camera close-up to spots holding my best memories while walking around empty apartment / no filter
  6. Janessa Williams: random pattern through moving car window as passenger, camera rotation at a constant speed to control light, going from bright to dark by alternating window to door to overlapping hands / no filter
  7. Kallie Giese: circumnavigating incandescent light of floor lamp / no filter
  8. Hannah Harsha: walking outdoor early morning light oscillating between house and fence / blue filter
  9. Ivy Bird: MSUB LA building interior ground floor lighting (windows, gallery tungsten lights) / vintage filter
  10. Morgan Syring: exploring details of Jennifer French’s exhibition, “This Vibrant Tarnished World” / no filter
  11. Keeara Rhoades: my action (collides within) known motion / complimentary color swap Adobe Premiere filter
  12. Parker J Rhoades-Wetzstein: holding steady on TV screen, PBS show, “Odd Squad” / edge warp noise filter
2-Channel Modulation six-diptych cycle (6 min loop)
1/12; 2/11; 3/10; 4/9; 5/8; 6/7
  1. Jon/Parker
  2. Carter/Keeara
  3. Elizabeth/Morgan
  4. Verity/Ivy
  5. Megan/Hannah
  6. Janessa/Kallie
​REFERENCE ROWS FOR 2-EPISODE VERTICAL JUXTAPOSITION
Mirror/Retrograde Reference Row:
12-1  11-2   10-3  9-4   8-5  7-6
Linear Permutation Row 4x Fracture = 2x Fracture
1-5   9-2   6-10   3-7   11-4   8-12
Mirror Reference Row Retrograde:
6-12   7-1   5-11   8-2   4-10   9-3
Linear Mirror Reference Row Retrograde:
6-8   12-2   7-4   1-10  5-9   11-3 
Mirror = Linear Mirror Reference Row Retrograde:
6-3   8-11   12-9   2-5   7-10   4-1
2-Episode Modulation Video: Tone-row Permutation/Juxtaposition Sequence Reference
Acknowledgements: 
Anna Paige, Entertainment Editor and Casey Page, Photographer, The Billings Gazette, "Jon Lodge makes art of randomness by 'tapping into accident' "
My Gallery Professional Practice Students who assisted with installation, promotion, documentation, randomized wrangling and de-installation: Kari Adams, John Allenbaugh, David Correa, Dani Four Bear, Liz May, Laura Meintjes, Terri Porta, Angel Shandy, Morgan Syring
The faculty and staff of the Department of Art/MSU Billings: Jodi Lightner and Keeara Rhoades for going above and beyond their regular teaching duties to include their students in Jon's collaborations. Patricia Vettel-Becker, Rebecca Sommers, Mark Earnhardt, Mara Pierce, Leanne Gilbertson
Jon Lodge, for agreeing, at the last minute to step in with his work after our next exhibition cancelled and for being a vibrant, engaged presence within the classrooms and the gallery.