Short Street almost makes it north to the south side of the North Berkeley BART station but is too short. It is just short of one block long at this point in its wandering. Near the north end of the street is a brightly painted house.
Andreé Singer Thompson lives here.
And has her studio here. And fills her front lawn with her sculptures. It is a lawn full of chaotic art, or is it artistic chaos? Raven silhouettes. Tiki images. Busts and weather-worn busts and fragments of busts. Faces. Shards. Art imitating chaos. You can read about her and her work, and you can check her out on Vimeo talking about her wet work and her philosophy of art and life.
And you can see these photos of her quirk. There are several images of ravens in the yard. Not crows, ravens. She links them to past-life experiences.
Beyond the ravens, names don’t come easily for the art:
And there is a bonus. Thompson is a dedicated environmentalist and the line between art and life and politics doesn’t exist. Her car, then, is a blend of art and life and politics. It celebrates (wrong word I think) endangered species:
Production values? Not the point. Passion and art and environment and politics and life all in one vehicle? Yes.
Photo: Neil-Mishalov-
Her house is a favorite on my quirky-led Quirky Berkeley walks. If you click here, you will her grandson explaining the car.
So the next time you find yourself at North Berkeley BART, stroll over the ivy to Short Street. It is major. My friend spent a long time with these photos. He freely admits that he has a big “ravens hang-up.” He doesn’t want to talk about it and I won’t force him. I know he will eventually bring it up. But the photos, the art? He says:
