Signal Lines is a proposed public artwork for Houlton that visualises wireless communication through light, geometry and collective making. The work responds to the first transatlantic wireless telephone call between Rugby Radio and Houlton, Maine, translating signals into a sculptural form created by the community.
The artwork
Signal Lines takes the form of a tall, slender sculpture made from four stacked, triangular sail-like structures mounted on a vertical pole.
The pyramidal forms alternate in orientation — point down, point up — creating a rhythm that echoes transmission, signal flow and connection across distance.
Each sail is semi-transparent and gently animated by light and movement, allowing the sculpture to read differently from close-up and from afar.
How the idea works visually
The surface of each sail is created from hundreds of small triangular artworks. These individual triangles are made by members of the community and assembled into larger composite images.
This layered approach allows the artwork to operate at multiple scales, reflecting how wireless communication itself is experienced — personal and intimate, yet vast and collective.
Day and night
Integrated low-energy lighting within the central pole softly illuminates the sails after dark. At night, the sculpture becomes a quiet beacon — a visible signal in the landscape — reinforcing themes of connection, communication and shared space.
Signal Lines turns a globally significant but invisible moment in history into a shared, visible experience. By combining contemporary sculpture with community authorship, the project embeds learning, participation and identity into the public realm, creating a lasting cultural landmark rooted in place.
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