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February 10, 2014 by tomdalzell

Major Quirky No. 21: 22 Tunnel Road and Oakridge Path

M

As you walk up Tunnel Road, across the street from the Claremont Hotel, you might notice a hint of well-executed artistic quirk.

Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00015-X3 Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00016-XL

Intriguing, but not major.

And then you walk up Tunnel Road, turn right on Oakridge Road, wind up to the top of the hill and turn down Oakridge Path.

Path Sign

Path

Google Maps

Google Maps

Not too far down on the path you enter the world of Marion Fredman.   The back of her light blue Tunnel Road house (top of photo) is on the right side of the path.  She owns the lot on the left side of the path – it drops down a hill to El Camino Real.

Starting on the right side of the path as you go downhill.

Gate

There  is a gate to her house.

Gate StepsGate steps mosaicGate wall mosaicGate Step wall closeup

The steps leading to the gate and the retaining wall that runs down the path are mosaic.  Sort of.

Spanish dicho

Somewhere in there is a Mexican dicho.  I think it is an ashtray.  The sentiment of the dicho is that a women and money are not good companions.  Keep walking down the path.  Keep looking on the right.

Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00048-XL

This sculpture defies description.  Just dig it.  And then look a little farther down the path.

Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016

 

Yes, that is Buddha in an antique water heater.

Buddha in bathtub

Not to be confused with Buddha in a bathtub that is in the front yard – not visible from the street or path.

Offside

PENALTY!  RULE VIOLATION – but relevant and quirky.

The left side of the path as you walk down the path from Oakridge is defined by a chicken coop.

Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00046-XL Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00050-XL Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00051-XL

Lots of different chickens.   A great antique “Pullets” sign.  Hubcaps.   And then art everywhere.  Quirky art.  Everywhere.  Art that suffers if you describe it.   Photos:

Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00018-X3Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00019-X3 Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00020-X3 Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00021-X3 Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00044-X3IMG_1415 IMG_1417 IMG_1418 IMG_1422 IMG_1423IMG_1411

Wine bottles burried upside down.  Buried, not cut-off.  Memo to self: next time cut off before burying.

IMG_1420The remnants of an elaborate bathroom floor.  When it had to be torn out, it was repurposed as garden art.

Quirky_Berkeley_110613*00047-X3Screen Shot 2014-02-08 at 11.31.23 AM

Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016

At this point, it is fair for you to ask a few questions.

Who What WhereThis art is purely a gift to the street – no, correctly it is a gift to the path.  Marion Fredman made the art and made the gift.  What a gift!

IMG_1446Here she is standing in front of the Unfinished Wall in her front yard.  It is not visible from the street or path and thus not covered by the scope of this project.  If it were covered, I would show you these photos:

Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016

 

And, new in 2016 – adorned steps:

Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016 Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016

Word for the day: paralypsis.  Here is what the OED has to say about paralipsis:

Screen Shot 2014-02-09 at 6.24.55 AM

No further explanation.  No further forbidden photos.

For years, Marion worked at the Museum of Children’s Art of Oakland.

MACHO LogoShe is still on the MOCHA Board.  Much of the art that you can see along the path and in her garden is the result of collaboration with her children and her seven grandchildren.  Here is a photo from the Chronicle of Marion with a grandchild in her house.

Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez (San Francisco Chroicle)

Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez
(San Francisco Chroicle)

What a place for a child to go!  What a grandmother!  Marion doesn’t discard things that others might throw away.  She re-uses them.  And, one suspects, she acquires things that others might leave unacquired.

And she wraps it all up into a gift to Berkeley.  Is there a greater treasure along Berkeley’s paths?   I think not.

I had a hunch that my friend was going to like Marion’s work and the fact that it is presented as a gift to the path.  He was looking at the October, 1969 issue of GQ magazine.

leonard-nones-gq-cover-october-1969

The cover is by Leonard Nones, one of my friend’s favorite photographers.  I could see how it would interest him, knowing his taste as I do.   He opened the magazine and showed me this:

GQ October 1969

“I short circuit thinking of everything that is wrong with this page.”  I invited him back to the present day and showed him the Marion Fredman art photos.  What did he think of them?

IMG_3677

 

 

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