A Monument to Kurt Vonnegut celebrating his legacy and continued relevance

With this sculpture I hope to publicly commemorate the novelist and secular humanist Kurt Vonnegut’s life, legacy, and continued relevance, and inspire new generations of readers. It is a medium-scale, secular, tongue in cheek take on a church altar showing scenes and situations related to his life and work.

The altar proceeds top to bottom from:

·  a “heaven” filled with angel-muses, saints and characters who represent Vonnegut’s ideal of a better world,

·  to the middle that is populated with real-world reference points and some of Vonnegut’s principal characters/protagonists,

·  then downward to a third level in which characters from his novels and types he talked about in his non-fiction works and speeches are engaged in reflection, repentance, and communication, all activities Vonnegut cherished.

In the central niche we see the “Holy Trinity” of Vonnegut, Kilgore Trout and Bokonon. Kurt rests his right hand on the shoulder of Trout who is writing on a bathroom wall in a scene from Breakfast of Champions, “…to be the eyes and ears and conscience of the Creator of the Universe, you fool!”.  Vonnegut is presented as a Janus figure. He stands sideways, and the front face resting on Trout’s shoulder is melancholic and loving while the face on the backside of the figure as seen in the mirror at the back of the niche is smiling broadly, even laughing. Bokonon from Cat’s Cradle lies supine on a large boulder, his teachings in hand. He is sticking out his tongue and thumbing his nose at the heavens.

Below the Trinity is TheQuoteThatBestSumsUpAllThatIsVonnegut from Hocus Pocus, “All I ever wanted to overthrow was ignorance and self-serving fantasies.”

Other quotes and several convex mirrors that put the images of viewers in the middle of all the action further encourage visitors to identify with the author’s messages.