She's dead ... oops, just kidding

According to a web site that simply creates and spreads rumors in order to increase internet traffic to its own site and therefore make more money from advertisers (ah, what a wonderful way to use this unlimited boundless technology to increase the knowledge of the human race), late last week kate died!

After fessing up, the headline on the site became:

"Kate Moss dead: 2014": Model killed by internet death hoax  

The report read as follows: "News of model Kate Moss' death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the September 2014 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the 40-year-old model is alive and well."

The piece continued on: "Rumors of the model’s alleged demise gained traction on Thursday after a ‘R.I.P. Kate Moss’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of 'our beloved model's passing at about 11 a.m. ET on Thursday (September 25, 2014)'. Hundreds of fans immediately started writing their messages of condolence on the Facebook page, expressing their sadness that the talented 40-year-old model was dead. And as usual, Twittersphere was frenzied over the death hoax." 

According to the site: "A recent poll conducted shows that a large majority (75%) of respondents think those Kate Moss death rumors are not funny anymore."

On September 26th the model's reps officially confirmed that Kate Moss is not dead: 'She joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. She's still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet' they said.

Just as kate's recent neon purchase led us to Wataru Komachi's work, so this hoax leads us to another interesting artistic frame of reference ... after writing obituaries for the Daily Telegraph in London, British-born, NY-based artist Adam McEwen began producing obituaries for living and breathing celebrities (including Bill Clinton, Rod Stewart, Jeff Koons and, of course, Kate Moss) thus highlighting the blurred line between history and fiction:

McEwen's Untitled (Kate), 2007

McEwen is concerned with pop and consumer culture and his work resides somewhere between the celebratory and funereal. He approaches this landscape with a directness that is disarming yet full of dark, dead-pan humor. In addition to newspapers, his work appropriates the familiar formats of cell phone display screens, shop signage and credit cards. McEwen has also created machined graphite sculptures of such everyday objects as a water cooler or an air conditioner. According to his NY gallery (Gagosian), his repurposing of the over-familiar creates "momentary ruptures". 

Adam McEwen: I'm not really interested in celebrities so much - the works are more homages. But the person must be famous so the reader knows that the person is still alive. I'm interested in that brief second when you aren't sure ... I only need that moment in order to disorient enough to sneak through to some other part of the brain - to achieve that split second of turning the world upside down.

McEwen's graphite air conditioner

I don’t know what it is, but I know for me, an obituary of Kate Moss is the same thing as an air conditioner made of graphite. There is a part of me that doesn’t really want to put into words what that thread is, but it always starts from the same place. It’s the same thread that ties together a credit card made of graphite, a photograph of a Jumbo 747 jet or hardware signs that read, ‘Sorry, We’re Dead’ or ‘Sorry, We’re Sorry.’

Life has now mirrored the art and we don't need the fake obituaries anymore ... we have facebook, twitter and social media giving us a constant barrage of uncertainty and supposed clarification.

Yet death, McEwen says, is “like a perfect rule: It’s going to happen, though emotionally, I don’t want it to”.

Yes, but fake death? According to the internet survey 25% of responders still think it is funny.

Don't worry internet viewers ... ishotkatemoss lives on!
Sorry, Observe. Slow Down. Shoot. Submit.
www.ishotkatemoss.com