Pasadena, California’s 18-Foot Fork in the Road Public Art Birthday Present

Image via The Los Angeles Times

The LA Times is reporting that a new work of guerrilla art has popped up in Pasadena, California. An 18-foot silver fork went up over Halloween weekend where South St. John and Pasadena Avenue’s split from each other–a literal fork in the road. The work was a birthday present for one Bob Stane on his 75th, given to him by a friend, Ken Marshall. Ten years earlier, Stane had offhandedly remarked that the location might be a good spot for a fork in the road monument and Marshall clearly took note.

To erect the fork, which is wooden with a steel internal frame and grounded with two-and-half feet of concrete, Marshall and a group of friends took to the street in the middle of the night dressed in Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) uniforms and hard hats. Upon completion, Marshall and friends showed the fork to Stane and gave him a chocolate cake.

‘We had a large-fork-in-the-road party,’ said Marshall. Stane, for his part, could not believe what he saw.  ‘I was basically screaming, ‘Oh my God, he did it! He did it!’ recalled Stane.”

Now that the fork is in place and has attracted a good amount of press as well as a curious fan base, the city of Pasadena is trying to decide whether or not to allow the work to stay in its place. The structure is currently being analyzed for safety and sturdiness. If found to be sound, the LA Times reports that Pasadena might propose the fork remain as a piece of temporary public art if Marshall will cover the cost of its removal when the time comes.

Marshall says this is the first piece of art he has ever created, and though the fork may have eveolved as a prank/genuine birthday gift, it certainly appears to be Claes Oldenburg influenced.

via 18-foot fork in the road, erected as a birthday prank, might become art in Pasadena | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times.