Below you’ll find a detailed explanation and short video production diary of the process.

I hope you enjoy, and to find out more about this project please visit jasoncovert.com

CARNIVORA is a multimedia installation inspired and informed by the purported discovery of what are now being referred to as The Sacred Texts of Carnivora, in Greenland. If proven authentic, these simply marked stone tablets unearthed in 2004 would predate the earliest known cuneiform writings by nearly 5,000 years. The implications are history altering, and with that in mind during this time of uncertainty and economic strife, when our systems and structures have been called into question, CARNIVORA will invite viewers to consider how fragile and arbitrary our world can be and what can happen when our assumptions are asked to change.

CARNIVORA is massive: it incorporates elements of still photography, large format illustration, sculpture, painted works, ceremonial masks and robes, custom designed jewelry, poetry and literature, as well as an original musical composition, all designed to transport the viewer into the world suggested by The Sacred Texts of Carnivora.

Some folks send out cards, and some folks send out lumps of coal… this year I’m sending out a video: how the other half (of the world) spends the holiday season.

Though perhaps cold where you are, rest assured that it is very, very warm somewhere else. May the sound of the waves and the colors in the sky bring you relaxation and happiness as the new year approaches.

Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010!

(filmed 12/12/2009 on the beach at Carate, Costa Rica, near Corcovado National Park)

As mentioned previously, on Thursday, June 18th, 2009, I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to speak publicly about my photographic work, entitled A Quiet World.

Programmed by Cannery Works (a not-for-profit based in NY, headed by the Spencer Chandler mentioned in the above video) and sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the event was a success: above you will find video of my brief introduction to said work. The artist presentations were followed by a spirited Q&A session unfortunately not featured here.

Though the project has often been about management as much as the creation of art, the single greatest pleasure for me has been seeing items come to life: springing from my mind to the page and on into the real world.

Below you will find a short video showing the application of some of the finishing touches as one of many pieces comes to life: in this case, a stained glass sculpture.

As I spend more of my time creating art I’m beginning to realize that having the time to do so does not necessarily mean that one will do so automatically.

Recently I spent several days alone in the woods working on sketches and concepts for my all consuming project, Carnivora. Below is a video that catches some of the elements I sought in order to help me help myself. It was a productive trip, though it left me yearning for more.

Consider this a tone poem: there’s nothing to really “get”… just a man in the woods.

A horny melon, a melano, the African horned cucumber, jelly melon, hedged gourd, English tomato, or kiwano (a registered trademark of New Zealand’s Prinut Inc.), is a vine of African origin, grown for its fruit, which looks like an oval melon with horns and is very decorative. Once native only to a region of the Kalahari desert, the horned melon is now also grown in California and New Zealand.

Apparently this melon has been known for more than 3,000 years, but has only been sold commercially in the last several years. Of note, it has a remarkable shelf life and can be stored at room temperature for up to six months.

I purchased this fruit in a Shop Rite food superstore, located on the borders of the Catskill State Park in New York state: truly a testament to the steady globalization of the world and re-confirmation of our amazing quality of life here in the United States.

It was impulse that delivered the prickly egg into my basket, and it was awe that registered when the fruit rang through as $5.99. “This thing better be as incredible on the inside as it is on the outside,” I remember thinking.

When picked green, and allowed to ripen to an orange color, the fruit tastes like a sweet cucumber. The fully ripe melon has an orange rind with rigid spikes. The yellow-green flesh has a gelatinous consistency and contains whitish seeds similar to those of a cucumber. I can see quite easily how it might be known as the African horned cucumber.

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