Reading community creates interactive solar mural

Reading residents are painting a mural that will generate its own solar power

Residents are helping create an interactive mural at New Directions College using painted solar panels, lights, sound and motion sensors.

The planned interactive solar mural in Reading Image: Reading Borough CouncilOriginal source

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People in Reading are being invited to help paint a public artwork with a rather unusual second job: generating renewable electricity.

The Solar Mural at New Directions College combines painted artwork with working solar panels and will include lights, sound and sensors that react when people pass by.

Artist Commando Jugendstil is creating the piece with the college, using funding from Arts Council England. Free drop-in workshops have allowed residents to contribute regardless of artistic experience.

The project sits somewhere between community mural, small power station and interactive installation. That is a considerably more interesting future for a blank wall than another coat of municipal beige.