500-year-old King’s locket unearthed // MetaBirkins & the future of NFTs // MSCHF’s Big Red Boots are comin’ // The Museum Bowl!

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Buy Amara. This is a weekly news show where I discuss contemporary events in the art and history fields.

I'm your host and personal curator, Amara Andrew. The format for the show that I typically follow, sometimes kind of, is one traditionally used by Western brides, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. This week, we're talking about a 500-year-old locket from a famous king that was just unearthed, a huge copyright case for NFTs, big red boots are coming, and you've heard of the Super Bowl.

Actually, I don't even know if I could say that, technically, but you've heard of this big game and there's an even cooler bowl, the Museum Bowl. All that and more coming up on this episode of Buy Amara. Let's get to it.

First, as always, let's start with some ads. So, this is a very special company that is near and dear to my heart, mostly because I co-founded it with my partner, Jeff. It's called vert.video, V-E-R-T.V-I-D-E-O.

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Welcome to Episode 22 of Buy Amara. Every time I write out my little doc, I like I spoiler alert, I number each Google Doc so then I know, not a sponsor, I number each doc so then I know what episode number it is. I can't believe it's 22.

That is wild! So, happy Episode 22, and also, happy post-Valentine's Day, and happy post-Super Bowl week, I guess, is what you could call it. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day whether loving yourself, loving your partner, or just loving chocolate or whatever.

I hope you had a lovely day. Valentine's Day is one of those really weird holidays where it's like you don't really get anything for it. Like, you don't get a day off, but it's still a holiday, but it's like also kind of not.

I don't know, it's very weird. I just find it a very weird holiday all around, but I guess all holidays really are. Also, I keep looking at my screen to see what I look like because I look like I'm wearing a mumu.

Like, this sweater is obnoxious. It's nice and warm though. It's still cold here in Chicago, big freaking surprise.

So, I need I need warmth.

Anyway, speaking of, the Super Bowl was very upsetting for me. Sorry if you're a Chiefs fan, but you suck. Just teasing, kind of.

I am only an Eagles fan because my dad is from my dad's from South Jersey, so Jeff actually pointed out how ridiculous this is that being I'm not from Jersey, but my dad is, but being from South Jersey that he roots for the Eagles. He doesn't root for the other two teams that play in New Jersey because technically, obviously, they're New York teams, so it doesn't really count.

But yeah, the Eagles for sure are my dad's like favorite team besides the Broncos and the Cardinals, kind of. So, I was rooting for the Eagles. Sorry you guys lost, but you did a really great job, so I'm very proud of you.

I'm not a football aficionado or person at all. Jeff definitely is, and he's gotten me on board. I just realized I didn't even mean to.

I am wearing a ring that has a bird skull on it. That is extremely symbolic. I genuinely didn't even mean to.

Maybe it was in my subconscious or something. This is like a painting where you see the hidden symbolism. I'm literally wearing a bird skull ring.

Maybe RIP the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. That is freaking perfect. I didn't even mean to.

That's very funny.

I've no personal life updates, other than I got a new light. I'm very excited about it. It's one of those things where like if you're into gear or anything at all, like sorry, I just wanted to make sure I was recording, double checking.

If you're into gear at all, it is it's like whatever your passion is, when you get something new for that, it's very exciting. I'm also waiting for a new backpack that's supposed to be like an awesome backpack. Maybe I'll show it off next week, and it's Peak Design.

It's like the bag for video or photography specialists, basically anybody who uses a camera for their profession, it's like the bag to go to. I've wanted one. I was like on the fence, and then I was like I should just get it because it's a really nice, nice goods.

Same with this light. It's very lightweight. I can literally hold it in one hand, but it does a fabulous job.

So, just anyway, I'm just blabbing on and on, but that is what's exciting for me.

So, to just start off the show because I'm just blabbing for 10 minutes now, to start off the show, I do have one update. More NFTs are going to be entering the art world, specifically in the museum world. The LACMA recently acquired 22 NFTs thanks to a donation by the collector, Cozomo de' Medici.

Now, if you aren't into NFT Twitter at all, basically it's been it's known that Cozomo de' Medici is Snoop Dogg. If you follow Snoop, if you follow Cozomo, if you follow anything, there was this whole thing a couple years ago where it was like, "Oh my god, who is this mysterious collector?" And Snoop basically confirmed it on his Twitter.

I'm still saying just basically or it's hypothesized just to cover my ass essentially.

Snoop was like, "I am Cozomo." Like, he literally tweeted out something to that effect. I don't remember and it was eons ago, so I probably couldn't find it. But, he basically said, "I am Cozomo." So, I'm just going to say Snoop Dogg donated 22 NFTs to the LACMA.

He's a huge collector, just collects a bunch of different things. I should also clarify, not saying NFTs, Snoop and the LACMA curators stated that they're going to be calling it generative art because NFTs have kind of a bad stigma to them. Like, people roll their eyes as soon as you bring up NFTs at any kind of gathering.

Most people do. Not everybody, but a lot of people do. I am personally part of the NFT world.

I have NFT collections and stuff like that. So, I like NFTs, but I'm also skeptical of most things. So, I'm in I'm in a weird hybrid where I'm I'm kind of in the world, but I'm also not.

I don't know. I'm I'm just me, I guess. I'm just going to I guess call him Cozomo for now.

So, Cozomo included work from Dmitri Cherniak, Monica Rizzolli, KAI, and sorry for mispronunciations as always, and Matt DesLauriers. And he also included some generative art from CryptoPunks and the World of Women. Cozomo stated in an article that I read, the reason they donated all of these generative arts calling generative art just feels weird.

The reason why they donated all these NFTs to LACMA was, quote, "Akin to the effect that William Randolph Hearst had when he donated hundreds of artworks converting the LACMA from a history museum to an arts museum." Recently too, this isn't the first donation of NFTs to the LACMA. They've gotten a bunch of other donations from various different collectors, as well.

I also want to point out, too, like I talked about in episode 18, that they aren't the only institution to have NFTs. So, they're slowly creeping their way into the museum. And some of the other institutions who have acquired NFTs are the Universal Hip Hop Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, the British Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston or Fine Art in Boston.

Sorry, you probably hate that people always add the S. Or is there an S? Oh, it does have an S.

Apologies. Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I really hope that the Art Institute here in Chicago will start acquiring NFTs just because I'm so curious how they're going to display them. Like, obviously, digital art and new media art and multimedia art has existed for a while, like since the '60s, I think, basically. And I've seen how the institutions have displayed them.

I'm just curious what an entire gallery of NFTs is going to look like and what the labels are going to be and just, I don't know. I'm very curious to see what it's going to be like. So, hopefully, there's something near me soon.

So, that is the only update I have for this week. So, let's get into the show.

Just in time for Valentine's Day yesterday, it's today, so for the purposes of this, yesterday, a historic heart locket was found. And not just any kind of heart locket, I'm calling it a locket. It was called a pendant in all the articles that I read, but it looks like a locket because it has a hinge and it opens, so thereby I call it a locket.

But, this isn't just any pendant. It's a 500-year-old pendant, and it gets even freaking cooler. So, a little bit of backstory.

A guy in Birmingham, England named Charlie Clark, which is like the most English name, I feel, was walking around with his metal detector when it started to emit a quote, "Unusually loud," beeping sound. It wasn't clear if he like grabbed a shovel or used his hands or whatever, but I'm assuming he had a little shovel if he has a freaking metal detector.

It wasn't just like, "Oh, I found this." This is my British accent. But, he dug about a foot underground and he found this pendant just sitting there, which is pretty cool. This is where it gets even cooler though.

The pendant is apparently connected to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Brief history refresher, Henry VIII was King of England. He is the guy who divorced his wife Catherine, who is on this pendant, her initial, which we'll talk about that in a second, to pursue Anne Boleyn.

So, that is that whole juicy kind of story and gossip and drama and everything. So, those are the characters of this story essentially. Let me provide you with a formal analysis of this.

So, the pendant is made of 300 grams, which is almost a pound, it's 1/2 a pound, of 24-karat gold, and it's attached to a 75 link chain, which the chain itself also looks like it's gold. If you're watching this, I have a photo up here, but just imagine, it's not the kind of necklace chain that we have today. It's like big round like circles, maybe like 1/2 an inch or so in diameter.

They're they're big. Maybe almost an inch, they're pretty sizable. But, you have to remember, obviously, we have mass machine production nowadays.

This was literally made by hand.

On one side of the pendant, it's decorated with Catherine of Aragon's emblem, the pomegranate bush, which I find absolutely hilarious. Well, not so much. I find it very comical, maybe even ironic that the pomegranate bush is her symbol because pomegranates have historically been linked to fertility and marriage, and they didn't produce a son in the marriage, which was part of the reason why Henry VIII divorced her.

That was one of the reasons that he gave. And then the other one is marriage, which as we know, they divorced. So, very ironic, I will say.

So, we have the pomegranate bush and then that is interlaced with the double-headed rose, which is the sign for the House of Tudors or for the Tudors.

On the other side of this pendant were the letters H and K, and they were tied together with a pinkish ribbon. It was also inscribed with the words "tous," T-O-U-S, and "iours," I-O-U-R-S, which was kind of like an early English Frenglish pun meaning "toujours" or always or all yours. There's also this super cute little enamel fist that's connected to the pendant, which is then how you're able to string the chain through it.

It's really freaking cute. It's just like a little fist like holding on to the heart and it has like a little cuff on it. So, that is what we're dealing with.

This guy found this whole thing in the Earth.

When he first found it, he actually thought that it was costume jewelry, which not going to lie, I probably would too. I probably wouldn't even think twice about it, honestly, but then as soon as you pick it up, which is exactly what happened to him, he picked it up and he was just like, "Oh, this actually has like some weight to it, so maybe it's going to be valuable." I couldn't even imagine finding some shit like this in the ground.

Like, now I want to go out in my backyard and go like dig a hole and see what I can find. Probably not because it's probably going to be like bodies or something. But, that would be so freaking sweet to like find something like this.

So, he found this in 2019. I thought it was recent, but he found it in 2019 and he brought it to the British Museum to be authenticated. And they were able to identify that and authenticate it and be like, "Yes, this actually is the real deal." Pretty freaking sweet.

The curator also stated that there are apparently no portraits from the era of people wearing a similar pendant. Also, apparently the pendant, like all of it looks like it was hastily crafted, so this could have been for like a prize for a banquet or tournament or joust or something like that. So, because of both of these factors, it's believed that the pendant wouldn't have been worn, but was actually just made to be displayed, so like a prize for something or whatever.

And that's why it wouldn't show up in portraits.

Yes, this pendant is super freaking cool because of its tie to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, but it's even cooler because not a lot of items related to Catherine of Aragon still exist. So, this is a super rare item. Apparently, too, Clark still owns the pendant.

According to British law, anybody who finds a treasure must report their discovery, hence why he went to the British Museum. Museums are then able to make a financial offer for the object, paying a fee that's then split between the person who found it and then also the person who owns the land where the item was found. He still owns it.

He hasn't sold it to anybody. He hasn't tried to figure out, he hasn't given it away as a gift to the British Museum.

I'm a little annoyed with that, just because something like this, it's so rare, first off. I know that it's been living underground for however many years, but now it's in a totally different environment. It's not in the Earth like it was before.

I feel like this should be in the care of people who can actually care for it, like who are trained in this kind of thing, caring for precious metals and stuff like that. I don't think it should be in his house or something wherever he's keeping it. I mean, obviously, they didn't say where he's keeping it or else somebody would probably go steal it from him.

He probably has it in a lockbox somewhere. But, I just think that it should have been a gift to the British Museum, especially because this is one of the things that should actually be in the British Museum, not like 98% of the rest of their collection. I'm not going to be mad at the British Museum in every single episode, but basically most of them, so just FYI.

I'm also a little worried, too, because somebody in another article said that this actually people who are searching for things with metal detectors, that has gone through the roof, that specific activity. I'm a little worried that there are going to be more people who find things and more people who are not necessarily going to report that they found these things.

Because, I mean, yeah, the law can tell you, "Hey, you need to report this," but I mean, how many people actually freaking pay attention to the law? If somebody can get a higher market value for the item in question on the black market or wherever they're going to sell it or to a private collector or something, why would they report it?

Like, that has historically happened for forever. But, obviously, that is why these laws have been put in place. But, it's just a little worrisome that there are going to be a lot of different things in private collections now that maybe we never know about and I don't know, it's just a whole thing.

Either way, I guess I would say if you find something of historic or enduring value, you should give it to your local museum or whoever can properly care for it, even if it's an archive, like they can take better care of it probably than you, just totally just being honest. So, anyway, either way, I think it's really cool that this was found and happy belated Valentine's Day.

Go out there and start digging.

So, for our next story, we are going to be talking about NFTs again. So, apologies if you don't want to hear about it, you can just skip ahead if you don't like it. Attribution and copyright though have been huge hot button issues in the world of NFTs, basically just talking about like the theory of it, rather than actually having practical application of it.

Recently though, Ryder Ripps and Bored Ape Yacht Club has been a huge thing. Well, I have another story for you that I personally hadn't heard of until I was looking for something. This week, a landmark case was decided in court.

A guy named Mason Rothschild was sued by fashion label Hermès for his NFT collection called MetaBirkins. They claim that Rothschild, quote, "Deliberately sought to dilute the luxury brand's trademark," end quote, with his project MetaBirkins.

So, first off, what the hell is a Birkin and what is this project? A Birkin is one of those weird things. Okay, good.

You got it? Done. It's like a secret menu item almost, is guess I guess how I would equate it, where at Hermès, you can see this on TikTok, too.

Some people spend a fuck ton of money working to build a relationship with their sales associate at Hermès by buying sandals, purses, scarves, like whatever the fuck at Hermès, in order to establish that connection with their sales associate because then they're hoping that the sales associate will invite them for the opportunity to buy a Birkin.

You still have to pay full price, which is tens of thousands of dollars, but it is like an invite-only kind of secret club sort of thing. So, if you see a Birkin out in the wild, I have photos up again if you're watching this, that person is part of the secret Birkin club. There might actually be one probably because this world is ridiculous.

So, that is what a Birkin is. It is kind of that like holy grail of luxury handbags in a way. Like, there are other brands and other handbags that are still coveted highly, but this is probably one of the most highly coveted and one of the most well-known.

So, the project then, MetaBirkins, started in 2021, and this was started after the success of Rothschild's first project called Baby Birkin. That one sold out. I think he said for like 5 and 1/2 ETH or something like that.

The thing to know about cryptocurrency is it's always going to fluctuate. So, at the time, when something was sold, that is like the monetary value of how much was sold. So, 5 and 1/2 ETH at the time in 2021 could have been anything.

So, after Baby Birkin, Rothschild started MetaBirkins. There were 100 furry Birkins that were for sale, and again, if you're watching this, I'll have photos up here for you. Basically, it's just the Birkin bag covered in faux fur, which is what he said.

And then, it's like a variety of different colors. So, you could have lime green. You could have I think the Mona Lisa is on one of them.

You could have Starry Night. You could have any kind of color. I think different color hardware, as well.

So, basically, just the purse in fur with different colors and attributes and things like that. The first MetaBirkin that was sold was for about 10 ETH, which like I said, cryptocurrency does fluctuate at the time it's very contingent upon like even just the minute of the day. But, Mason says that this was about $40,000 at the time.

About the project, Rothschild or Mason, as I've just called him, Rothschild stated that the reason he created the project was, quote, "As an experiment to see if I could create the same kind of illusion that it has in real life as a digital commodity." Meaning, can I take the Birkin and how valuable it's seen in the real world and see if it's also the same in a digital commodity, which it was a very successful project, I will just say.

It sold out and I think the floor is at 2.5 ETH, which right now is probably I don't even know, maybe around $3,000 or so.

Also, about the project, so in an interview from 2021, Rothschild stated that he comes from the fashion industry, but that just means that he worked in retail at Saint Laurent and Dior. So, that's where he got the idea of making them in fur because that he's saying that he's critiquing the use of fur in the fashion industry.

Cool, it really doesn't come across, honestly. Just personally, it I don't find that very successful. But again, I'm just an idiot on YouTube in on podcasts wearing a mumu, so whatever.

Something else that was really funny in this interview that I saw was Rothschild stated, quote, "There was a bunch of like counterfeit NFTs that were from my collection. We're in the process of like verifying mine on OpenSea." Which I thought was so funny because in a way, he's he's not counterfeiting, why did I say it like that?

Counterfeiting Hermès, but he is copying it. So, it's just funny having the idea of like, "Well, mine are real." But then it's like, "But are yours real? What is the real?

Is the real their Hermès Birkin? Is yours real? But then does it matter if there's" It's a whole messy, complicated copyright issue.

It's just very interesting, is all I guess is what I'm getting at.

So, not long after he launched the project in 2021, Hermès sent Rothschild a cease and desist letter because they saw that this was doing really well. Rothschild though, again, responded that his project was a commentary on fashion's history of animal cruelty. Still genuinely don't get that from the work.

If he had like animal heads that were sewn on to it, like I know that's super graphic and disgusting, but if he had like that kind of a vibe, almost like a PETA vibe, but not as not as aggressive, but just something where it was more of a critique, I could see that. But I think that was just him kind of trying to backpedal and be like, "No, no, no, like, look, it's a critique."

So, this case went to court. Hermès, like I just said, sued him. There was a test in the courtroom to judge if this was considered a work of art.

So, the judge had a test for the jury. The judge required jurors to utilize a test, which it still wasn't said what this test is. But that would determine whether or not these NFTs were artistic expression or not.

The jurors ultimately decided that this project and all the NFTs within it did not pass the test and therefore could not be considered art. Very interesting argument right here. They also stated that these NFTs obscured the understanding that the MetaBirkins were not part of Hermès and part of the company.

I would like to point out though, on the website, there is a disclaimer that says that they are not affiliated with Hermès. However, that could have been added retroactively after the cease and desist letter, I'm pretty sure. I tried to go on the Wayback Machine on the MetaBirkins website to see how far back I could go.

I could only go to March 2022, I think. So, project came out in 2021, absolutely no trace of it, unfortunately. So, I was not able to figure out that.

Apparently, it also seems like the jury was swayed by the vernacular that's used in the NFT community, like pump, shill, and whale, which they apparently didn't like or they thought added to this project not being considered art. Now, I don't fully support that this was a critique on animal cruelty. However, NFTs are art.

This is an art project. Like, this is very much an art project. It's a different type of art versus traditional art, but it is still art.

I just don't understand when people argue that this is not art because it is art. Like, it was created in some way, which I guess you could say for AI-generated art.

However, we're talking about this for right now. It's just very silly that these aren't seen as an artistic expression. I think just because also, NFTs are purchased in a very different way with a very different currency and they're very like it's very in your face and it's very upfront about it because it's kind of like a security or like a stock almost.

It's it's a very different type of art, but it's still art. People don't really know what goes on in the art world behind closed doors with traditional art like painting and sculpture and all that shit, but it's very much a business. It's very much about buying and selling different things to inflate the value or make money or whatever.

Like, that is what the art world is. You have collectors like me who just love the freaking art, but that is the point of the business. That is exactly what NFTs are.

So, I'm I'm very confused where this where this is coming from, because it is art. Like, you need people in the NFT community on the jury panel, mixed in with other people. I don't think a fucking person on this panel, honestly, knew anything about NFTs.

Also, to further support my point, art critic and author Blake Gopnik, who created he just wrote, it was released like maybe a year or two ago, I don't know, time is irrelevant now, but he released a book called Warhol, and it was all about Andy Warhol's life. It is the most comprehensive book about Andy Warhol, I think I've ever read.

I'm I'm only halfway through it, but it's a really great book, so go read it wherever you can. So, Gopnik was going to argue something very similar to what I just said, but he was going to use Andy Warhol's soup cans as part of his argument to show like, "No, this is still art, like, even though we view Andy Warhol's soup cans as being art, we can't view these as being art." But, he wasn't allowed to take the stand, so he didn't actually get to make his verdict, which I thought was very interesting.

And that was also very telling of where the trial was headed, where he didn't even get to make his sense or make his argument. It was just kind of like, "Nope, this is done."

TL;DR, this has gone on for way longer than I meant, but this is a huge case for the NFT and the crypto world showing that, you know, businesses, like you do need to protect businesses to some extent, but you also need to protect artists and this is an art project first and foremost, I believe. This is going to be a huge, huge thing in the future of NFTs and crypto, and I'm very curious to see how things are going to be progressing forward in the future.

So, like I said, the jury sided with Hermès. They stated that Rothschild's NFTs failed the test that would allow them to be considered art, and Rothschild now owes Hermès $133,000 in damages, $110,000 of which were estimated profits from the sale of the collection, and then another $23,000 for cybersquatting for registering the domain metabirkins.com.

So, we'll see what this means for the future of NFTs, but if you're making a project, probably don't base it off of something this iconic in the future. Just FYI. Save yourself.

MSCHF has done it again! While I was reading about this story, and I'll tell you what it is in a minute, I kept thinking of you're probably going to have no idea what I'm about to say. So, The Mighty Boosh is a TV show, and I absolutely love it.

I've loved it since high school when my friends and I would watch it. There's one specific episode where it's The Strange Tales of the Crack Fox, and in one scene, I'm going to probably butcher it, but he's like, "My squishy boots." And it is the funniest fucking thing. He's talking about condoms in that instance.

But, today we're talking about a pair of boots, and I just kept having "squishy boots" pop into my head. Anyway, so MSCHF, like I said, has done it again. In episode 13, I talked about their ATM leaderboard that made a huge splash at Art Basel Miami, and Diplo was even part of it and he was he put his debit card.

It's a whole thing. Go listen to it. It's really fascinating.

There's a pair of boots called Big Red Boots that are scheduled to be released February 16th, so tomorrow as of this like coming out, February 16th, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. The webpage showing these boots, by the way, is hilarious.

You need to go look at it. It's like models, like as you scroll, it's like new images come into frame and it's models with the boots. It is so funny.

I was literally like I was just dying laughing. I love MSCHF. If you don't like them, that's totally fine.

I think they're absolutely hilarious. I love everything they've done so far. I don't know everything that they've done, but I like most of what they've done.

So, first, I should tell you what the hell these boots even are. They are these huge red boots that look like you just jumped out of a cartoon. They're exactly what you would think when you hear red cartoon boots.

The shaft, I'm using proper terminology, the shaft of the boot goes to like mid-calf, no heel, it's just flat on the bottom, but it's that like cartoony like bulbous kind of foot. It is so fucking funny. I saw a photo of these and I about died.

I was like, "I need to have these." I am going to try to see if I can purchase these, just FYI. I probably won't be able to because everything just sells out super quickly from MSCHF, but if I can, I am wearing them all the time.

In the description for these boots, they're marketed as such, quote, "Cartoon boots for a cool 3D world. Cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality. If you kick someone in these boots, they go boing!" I don't know why I find these so funny.

I just I love them. Like, everything is so ridiculous, but that's what the beauty is. It's like the fashion world is fucking ridiculous.

Like, why can't you wear these boots?

They also then continue in the description, quote, "The continued blending of virtual and IRL aesthetics has us chasing supernormal stimuli. Big red boots are really not shaped like feet, but they are extremely shaped like boots." I can't stop laughing. Okay, one final funny thing.

The in the materials and details section, it states like in a bulleted list, first, okay, so in the bulleted list, it states, "Big. Red. And then TPU rubber shell," and then a couple other things.

I just thought that "Big" and "Red" in the description is absolutely fucking hilarious. I was really hoping it'd say "Big", "Red", and then "Boots", but that's beside the point. It might have been a little too overdone.

When I was on the website of MSCHF, I was poking around and looking at everything they've done and I didn't realize how much I love their stuff. Like, this is when I truly realized like I'm a big MSCHF fan. They have another shoe that is like promoted also on this page for Big Red Boots, and it's called the AC1.

It's literally a walking boot. Like, if you sprain your ankle or break your foot or something like that, but it's literally a walking boot, but two of them so you can wear them as shoes. And it's supposed to be the ultimate supreme comfort.

I just thought it was so funny. I love what they do. I need to do something like this.

MSCHF was also behind the Satan shoe as well that was released with Lil Nas X, where there's literally one drop of human blood in each pair, like in the bottom of it. They also launched the Jesus shoe, too, which has like a bunch of other stuff and then it also has water from Israel's River Jordan that was blessed by a Brooklyn priest in the sole of the shoe as well.

I wasn't able to get either of those pairs of shoes just because I didn't. They were very expensive though. They were I think they were in the thousands of dollars for each pair and obviously, like I said, they all sold out.

I think there were only like 25 of each of those shoes. Big Red Boots though are going to sell for $350, so it might be more difficult to get these. I think there might be a couple hundred that are for sale.

I have no idea. We'll see if I can get some. I probably shouldn't because that is a stupid amount of money to spend on something ridiculous, but life's ridiculous and then you die.

So, anyway, I just thought these were hilarious. They have been making their rounds on TikTok and Instagram and just basically everywhere, so if you're listening to this, you have to look up Big Red Boots now if you haven't already. Look at the webpage specifically by MSCHF, spelled M-S-C-H-F.

It's so fucking funny. I might be walking around in my big red boots one day.

For our final story of this episode, this past weekend was this actually, I don't know if I can say Super Bowl. Was the big game. I don't want to get sued, so I guess I'm just going to say the big game from here on out.

Ooh. So, this past weekend was the big game, and apparently every year, there is also a Museum Bowl. So, this has been a tradition for the past 13 years, apparently.

I had never heard of this. I think it's absolutely fascinating. I'm also a little disappointed that I had never heard about this before.

I've been in arts forever, and I'm so disappointed I haven't heard about this until today. However, or until like this past weekend.

So, this is how the tradition started. It started in 2010. In this tradition, major institutions in the NFL conference-winning cities put up a work of art for temporary loan to the Super Bowl-winning city.

Fuck. Big game-winning city, damn it. NFL's going to come kick my ass.

For the big game, you have two teams. So like, this year, it was the Kansas City Chiefs and then the Eagles. So, they're both competing who gets who has to loan a work of art to the other institution.

This started in 2010 when art writer Tyler Green dared the two teams going to the big game, the Colts and then the Saints. So, he dared the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art to bet the loan of an important artwork on that year's game.

The Saints won, so then the New Orleans Museum of Art got to temporarily house The Fifth Plague of Egypt by J.M.W. Turner. So, last year, because it was the Bengals versus the Rams, the Huntington and the Cincinnati Museum of Art or Art Museum, sorry, also participated in the Rams won.

So then, the Cincinnati Art Museum loaned the Huntington, Patience Serious by Robert Henri. This year, like I said, it was the Eagles and Chiefs, so it was the Philadelphia Museum of Art versus the Nelson-Atkins. Obviously, as we know, the Chiefs won, so the Philadelphia Museum is going to have to loan out one piece of art to the Nelson-Atkins.

Normally, one institution has to like call out the other one. So, the PMA did it this year. The Director and CEO Sasha Suda bet one masterwork from the museum's permanent collection, as well as some cheesesteaks, that the Eagles would beat the Chiefs.

The Nelson-Atkins accepted the wager and they responded by offering Kansas City barbecue instead. So, it's very friendly, it's very fun and playful, but it's just something fun that they do that I really enjoy.

So, I'm curious to see which one of the PMA's artworks are sent out to the Nelson-Atkins. I just think it's something fun. I also, I do have to point out though, unfortunately on Twitter, the PMA tagged some random ass guy on Twitter.

They kept trying to call out Nelson-Atkins. They were calling out a guy, I think, just named Nelson Atkins. It's like this no-profile Twitter account.

They were using the handle @NelsonAtkins, all one word, not actually what the Nelson-Atkins handle is, which is @Nelson_Atkins. Social media team, you got to got to got to double check who you're tagging. That is so vitally important.

You have to be so careful who you're tagging. So, especially on Twitter, if you don't have Twitter Blue or whatever, where you can edit your tweets, I don't even know if that's a thing yet, but just FYI. Just want to put it out there.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to embarrass you, but just so you know.

Anywho, that's going to do it for this episode of Buy Amara. Be sure to like and subscribe. It really does help.

I truly appreciate those of you who have liked and subscribed so far. And yeah, I think that's basically it. As always, I have my Patreon if you want to throw a couple bucks my way or whatever if you want to support the show.

Totally appreciate it. Totally understand though if not, that is like I know things are difficult financially, so just thank you so much for even listening to me. I really appreciate you, and I'm Amara Andrew, and never stop creating.