The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has gone to the dogs this year, and that’s actually a good thing because who wouldn’t want to kick it with some chill mutts at the festival.

Inspired by her own dog, a mutt named Perry who is a mix of a border collie and lab, Romanian-born architect Oana Stănescu created three 18-foot-tall dogs for the festival that are there to just basically hang out.

Her installation, which is her first piece for Coachella, is titled “Mutts” and is made up of metal silhouettes of three big dogs.

The three mutts appear as if they’re playing on the grass, turning a portion of the venue into a playful dog park and a popular selfie spot for dog and plant lovers.

“On the one hand it’s just a gathering place, a place to find shade and enjoy the fun of these large creatures, but on the other hand I think there is something we can learn from Mother Nature, animals and loyalty, limitless love and affection,” said Stănescu, who splits her time between New York and Berlin.

Each dog is in a different position; one is standing, another one is sitting and one is stretching, or maybe doing some yoga or inviting someone to play, in the downward dog position, of course.

The dog silhouettes are filled with plants and bright flowers, so yeah, think big tall Chia Pets, but way cooler.

“This is beautiful, just so pretty and they all looks so playful,” said Los Angeles resident Sonia Reyes, as she took a picture of the dogs on the first day of the festival.

After taking a picture in front of each dog she petted the flowers which are meant to act as the fur.

“There’s something about the scale. They’re looking above the people and audience because they are so tall and kind of ignoring what’s happening,” she said.

“It’s a bit of a reminder to put our own lives in perspective because I think at times we can be quite distracted by things that are not all that important,” Stănescu added.

Related Articles

The size of the installation also acts as a bit of a role reversal between humans and dogs, she said.

“Typically they are small and we bend down and they look up to us. But in this case I wanted us to look up to them,” she said.

Like other large-scale artists at the festival, Stănescu started working on her installation in preparation for the 2020 Coachella, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While not much changed with her plans, she thinks the dogs may bring even more joy to Coachella now that people can gather again.

“I think if anything it just strengthens the meaning of the entire installation for me. But it’s also as simple as just a place to kind of come together and have fun and spark some joy,” she said.