At the beginning of the year I wrote about The Murals of Central Reading highlighting the three that were there, two of which were very recent. I compared them with Bristol and noted how Reading’s “are a much more sober and corporate affair.”
Royals, Residents & a Rock Festival
For as long as I have been living in Reading the Station Hill area of the town, what visitors arriving by train see first, has been a bit of a dump. Over the years there have been many plans to raise it and rebuild anew but most fell by the wayside until finally work got underway a few years ago. As part of these works the developers have installed a number of new pieces of artwork (more on which later) including one called “Royals, Residents & A Rock Festival” which is not only attractive but it is also pretty innovative too.
Running the whole length of the wall either side of the pedestrian tunnel this 51m mural tells the Reading story through its people and places. During the day this appears like a black and white comic book but it really and literally comes to life after dark. Lit by thousands of LEDs not only do the colours change but the scenes are also interactive with eyes that wink at you. It’s incredibly impressive.
Rivers, Ruins & Regency
At the junction of Friars Walk and Friar Street is a much smaller companion piece called “Rivers, Ruins & Regency”. I am assuming that this one is similarly lit at night but haven’t been able to verify that yet.
And there’s more
Both pieces are incredibly effective and a great additions to the area. I just hope that no imbeciles do anything to it which would be a great shame.
As I said at the beginning the Station Hill developers have added two more pieces of public artwork including the striking sail-like work called Pivotal. I intend to cover these and other Reading works in a later post.
