As I walked up and down the streets through the beach town, Carpinteria, I noticed a bright and colorful painting on what I had remembered was just a plain, boring, beige wall. As I look for the artist’s signature I find out that this mural, was painted by John Wullbrandt just over two years ago and I realize how long it has been since I have been here last. It is located in the heart of the town positioned on the side of a restaurant visible to all traffic entering Carpinteria. I stopped by the candy shop right next door to buy some of their delicious chocolate covered coffee beans. On my way out I had to take a closer look at this painting and this is what I saw. I took off my sunglasses and was able to gaze at this scene ahead of me with nothing in the way, except that car.
As I tore open the bag of the chocolate covered coffee beans, I walked up to the mural and just stared at it. I don’t know how big it was but it was at least twice the height of me. I was shocked it wasn’t gated off or anything which allowed me to get as close as I wanted to to it. It wasn’t painted on canvas or anything, but directly on the wall. It had the same texture as I rubbed from the regular wall onto the mural itself. It was an unsmooth surface, but was not sharp to the touch. It had random indentations which added to its texture.
A Picture Within a Picture
What first caught my eye were the words, World’s Safest Beach. As my eye moved up I noticed all the bright colors within the typical day at the beach scene. Everything looked very serene; the family sitting on their beach towel, the waves rolling up on the shore, the umbrella and surfboard (both essentials for any beach trip) and the life guard calmly looking out upon the horizon. One thing that I realized as I looked at this mural a bit longer is that the mountain ranges and the shore line up with the outer picture too. This indicated that when it was low tide the people would come out and enjoy a day in the sun, but when they left, or the tide came back in, nature took over. After all, it is nature’s home to begin with.
The outer picture represented the beauty of nature; the birds flying above, the seal resting upon the moss covered rocks, the dolphins jumping out of the water while the sand pipers search for sand crabs on the ocean shore. Everything seemed to work in unison with each other making the inference that the people and nature make up what Carpinteria is most notably known for, their self-proclaimed World’s Safest Beach. Wullbrandt did a great job at representing that in his mural.
Aura
In reference to John Berger’s Way of Seeing, seeing this mural in person did affect the mood. Rather than seeing this in the local newspaper or on a post card, I was able to feel the entire aura and experience a perspective from seeing the original art piece. Still standing there eating my coffee beans, I realized that I was in walking distance of going to this beach itself. I turned around and saw that shops were slowly opening and the sun was just barely peeking through the clouds because it was still the morning. The wind wisped itself around me bringing a slight chill in the air along with the smells of the sea and the sand with it.
Its authenticity finally captured me. I was lost in the moment. I felt like I was the only one there on the streets of the town, until the sound of a car stopped it for a moment, but once it was gone I was back in that Trans state. I was fully intoxicated by the smells and sounds that the mural had enhanced for me. This was no reproduction, no substitute. This was the real deal and I was able to experience it all through my senses that had enhanced in those moments to take me on a journey that I’m sure John Wullbrandt was hoping to accomplish with is piece. He did.
A Picture Within a Picture
What first caught my eye were the words, World’s Safest Beach. As my eye moved up I noticed all the bright colors within the typical day at the beach scene. Everything looked very serene; the family sitting on their beach towel, the waves rolling up on the shore, the umbrella and surfboard (both essentials for any beach trip) and the life guard calmly looking out upon the horizon. One thing that I realized as I looked at this mural a bit longer is that the mountain ranges and the shore line up with the outer picture too. This indicated that when it was low tide the people would come out and enjoy a day in the sun, but when they left, or the tide came back in, nature took over. After all, it is nature’s home to begin with.
The outer picture represented the beauty of nature; the birds flying above, the seal resting upon the moss covered rocks, the dolphins jumping out of the water while the sand pipers search for sand crabs on the ocean shore. Everything seemed to work in unison with each other making the inference that the people and nature make up what Carpinteria is most notably known for, their self-proclaimed World’s Safest Beach. Wullbrandt did a great job at representing that in his mural.
Aura
In reference to John Berger’s Way of Seeing, seeing this mural in person did affect the mood. Rather than seeing this in the local newspaper or on a post card, I was able to feel the entire aura and experience a perspective from seeing the original art piece. Still standing there eating my coffee beans, I realized that I was in walking distance of going to this beach itself. I turned around and saw that shops were slowly opening and the sun was just barely peeking through the clouds because it was still the morning. The wind wisped itself around me bringing a slight chill in the air along with the smells of the sea and the sand with it.
Its authenticity finally captured me. I was lost in the moment. I felt like I was the only one there on the streets of the town, until the sound of a car stopped it for a moment, but once it was gone I was back in that Trans state. I was fully intoxicated by the smells and sounds that the mural had enhanced for me. This was no reproduction, no substitute. This was the real deal and I was able to experience it all through my senses that had enhanced in those moments to take me on a journey that I’m sure John Wullbrandt was hoping to accomplish with is piece. He did.
Jake Hagen is a freshman at Cal State Northridge and an aspiring chef, often found looking through cookbooks in search for the latest and greatest recipes to try out.