As you probably know by now, a photo by Vancouver artist Jeff Wall sold for more than $3.6 million at a Christie’s auction in New York on Tuesday, becoming the single most valuable photographic artwork ever produced in Canada.
The 1992 photograph titled Dead Troops Talk depicts a bloody scene of Soviet soldiers talking to each other after being killed in the Soviet-Afghan war in 1986. Wall is known for his large scale photographs recreating scenes from historical events.
With so much attention on Wall’s work as of late, surely the artist must be feeling the pressure to top himself. Which is why K&K has decided to offer Wall a few ideas for his next project.
• A recreation of the off-camera scene on Degrassi High where Shane (the father of Spike’s baby) takes acid before a Gourmet Scum concert, jumps off a bridge and suffers brain damage. Wall could call it One Bad Trip.
• As the title suggests, Gordon Wilson and Judy Tyabji’s First Date would depict the first romantic encounter between the then B.C. Liberal leader and his fellow MLA turned House Leader at a secret rendezvous, most likely a Swiss Chalet.
• Besides being a great name for a band, Lou Passaglia’s Teen Moustache would capture the future B.C. Lions Hall of Fame kicker staring lustfully into the bathroom mirror at his first nose caterpillar. His torso is shirtless and scrawny, but his eyes are wild like an untamed stallion about to gallop into an open field of possibilities.
Twitter @KudosKvetches