Mutts

We can learn a lot from dogs: joy, lust for life, loyalty, unconditional affection and an endless capacity for interspecies love. The New York–based Romanian architect makes the point with a pack of massive canine sculptures, each in a typical position, creating a dialog and inviting interaction. You can touch the nose of the stretching (downward) dog, walk under the pointer, and rest on the paws of the sitting dog. The striking silhouettes, built with steel frames and filled with a variety of plants - lantana (red, yellow, purple), cassia, fountain grass, yellow bell, jasmine - reduce the dogs to their minimal forms, allowing their expressions to speak through their contours and gestures. You begin to wonder what they’re thinking. The plants add shagginess to the sculptures while creating a shaded place for gathering. Almost the entire installation is reusable and recyclable. Stănescu, who is known for creating architectural wonderlands incorporating elements of nature, has collaborated with the late Virgil Abloh, Ye and the New Museum in New York. She teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and MIT, and says her dog, a very good boi, is her favorite company. The project collaborators are Ashely Kuo and Mackinley Wang-Xu.

“The survival of the near totality of living beings presupposes the existence of other living beings: every form of life requires that there be life in the world already.”
Emanuele Coccia

Mutts is a celebration of coexistence and interdependence through the surreal colliding of species, an ode to life with flowers and bees, grasses and dogs, hummingbirds and humans. Exuberant plants and insects mingle in giant silhouettes of human’s best friend dwarfing dancing crowds, a reminder that we live in their world, quite literally, and were it not for them we wouldn’t be.

Mutts was conceived two years ago, in a world in which we took the energy of crowds for granted. To be able to come together after such a condensed and intense period of time, is incredible. Yet such a privilege is not to be taken for granted, especially in light of the brutal war unfolding in Ukraine, a place very close to my home. With that in mind, the drawings of the installation will be auctioned off as part of a communal effort to support Ukraine. To Peace!

Team: Ashely Kuo, Mackinley Wang-Xu, Oana Stănescu
Dimensions: 15-18’ height
Weight: up to 1,000 Pounds/ Mutt
Plants: Lantana (Red, Yellow, Purple), Cassia, Fountain Grass, Yellow Bell, Jasmine Structure: Steel Skeleton, Ply Profile, Built In Irrigation System

Dog: Perry, 8 year old Mutt
Occasional Collaborators: Costa's Hummingbirds, Bees