This is not a company having an identity crisis though. MSCHF resolutely refuses any kind of label, with the company’s employees hesitant to even call themselves a “company”.

According to an interview with Business Insider, CEO Whaley said, “Being a company kills the magic, we’re trying to do stuff that the world can’t even define.”

They’ve certainly stuck to their word, launching many creations that are truly difficult to pigeon-hole. (Its latest project? A dating sim game called Tax Heaven 3000 set to drop on March 28, that supposedly files a US user’s income taxes and has the tag line: “Do your federal taxes while romancing your waifu!”)

Here are six of MSCHF’s most outrageous works ever ...

Fuss-free fashion: how Brett Goldstein made the black tee his signature look

1. The Persistence of Chaos

MSCHF’s first work was a commission from computer security company Deep Instinct. MSCHF worked with Chinese internet artist Guo O Dong to make The Persistence of Chaos, released in May 2019. The project not only went viral but also sold for US$1.3 million in an online auction.

The Persistence of Chaos is an artwork consisting of a single 2008 Samsung laptop ridden with six of the world’s worst pieces of malware, which together have caused almost US$100 billion worth of damage to the global economy, according to the artwork’s website.

But the artwork remains harmless – as long as it is not connected to a network or the internet.

2. Medical Bill Art

In 2020, MSCHF issued a commentary on the US healthcare system by finding three Americans with substantial medical bills and having those bills hand-painted on two-metre canvases, including items such as US$118 for an IV and US$4,940.25 for a CAT scan.

Each painting was then sold for the amount due on the bill – US$47,000 being the most expensive – with MSCHF using the proceeds to pay off that bill, absolving a total of US$73,000 worth of medical debt.

MSCHF placed an ad in their eponymous magazine to find suitable medical bills for the project and received around 100 responses. “Given MSCHF’s audience is young, it was especially gut-wrenching to hear from high-school and college students with tens of thousands of dollars of medical debt,” said Daniel Greenberg, the company’s head of strategy and growth in a 2020 interview with CNN.

Building with purpose: the ‘art sheika’ putting Qatar on the cultural map

3. Satan Shoes

In March 2021, MSCHF released 666 pairs of the “Satan Shoes” in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X. The shoes were released days after Lil Nas X’s controversial music video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name), which depicts the rapper – who is openly gay – sliding down a stripper pole into the depths of hell.

The shoes, featuring satanic imagery such as a bronze pentagram, an inverted cross and – raising the most eyebrows – a drop of real human blood in the sole, were based on Nike’s Air Max 97, prompting the sportswear giant to distance itself from the Satan Shoes by suing MSCHF.

MSCHF had previously released the “Jesus Shoes”, also based on the Air Max 97. The brand defended itself by remarking on how that earlier pair had not had the same pushback, per WWD. In that case, the shoes’ air bubbles were filled with holy water, so that consumers could quite literally walk on water like the biblical figure.

4. Bull & Moon

Poking fun at the vagaries of the stock market, in 2019 MSCHF released an investing app Bull & Moon that recommends stocks based on its users’ zodiac signs.

The app is a cinch to use: simply input your date of birth and your investing experience and it searches for companies with astrological signs “most compatible” with yours based on their founding date. For example, Twitter was founded on March 21, apparently making it an Aries. If you’re a Sagittarius, a sign said to be compatible with Aries, then investing in the social media platform could be the way to go. Best of luck!

9 of Pharrell Williams’ boldest looks ever, from Nike and Adidas to Hermès

5. Big Red Boots

Last month, MSCHF dropped the Big Red Boots, also called the Astro Boy boots because of their resemblance to the Japanese anime character’s footwear. The US$350 rubber boots caused a sensation online, selling out within minutes of their launch, with several celebrities and fashion influencers wearing them.

As hard as they are to look at for some people, these impractical round boots, each weighing 1.59 kilograms (3.5lbs), per The Cut, are equally difficult to take off. Videos of people trying to remove the boots have gone as viral as the footwear themselves.

The product description for the boots reads: “Cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality. If you kick someone in these boots they go boing!”

6. Birkinstocks