Fluffy

Fluffy, The Dream Puff!
Fluffy is accessible public transit masquerading as a wafting cloud to elicit and excite your dreams.
A wheelchair lift and Braille rails make a mutant vehicle experience accessible to that many more Burners. Gifting forays provide iced liquid refreshment in the heat of the day (Deep Playa Beer Delivery) and warm gooey treats in the chill of the night (Smores).
Come Be Fluffy with us.

Fluffy, The Experience.
You’re way out in Deep Playa one fine day, wandering the art installations and the open spaces but aware of the baking heat and searing sun…when a cloud floats by. No ordinary cloud, there are joyful people floating on top of the cloud and revelers dancing beneath multi-colored umbrellas. It stops, and the cloud seems to dissolve into a mist. You approach, intrigued, to find people passing out cold beer while others enjoy a cool mist. You’re welcomed into the roving community.
Or it’s late night and you’re wandering the art installations and open spaces but aware of the chill in the air … when approaches a cloud lit with slowly changing colors to storm/lighting, fuzzy fog, fluffy clouds. And there is fire, lights, music, and dancing. But wait, but wait…there’s a smaller cloud, with Burners gathered toasting marshmallows to
create gooey, delicious Smores.
Fluffy began on a 40′ bus platform with the center section of the roof removed, creating an open-air dance floor. In the center of the main floor is a dance pole extending above to the propane flame poofer which blasts and warms revelers by night. Many colored umbrellas hang for shade during the day.
8′ sections of the roof remain fore and aft to create-open air interior spaces. In the front seat, the Fluffy Captain flies the apparition with a DJ behind, facing the dance floor. The (formerly bus) door welcomes folks up the short stairs, while others are welcomed via the wheelchair lift at the side rear. The handrails around the open-space/dance floor have raised Braille lettering to share with sight-impaired folks what they’ve gotten themselves into.
The interior on the main floor and the nests above are adorned with art of whimsy, fantasy, wonder, and delight. There are ladders from the open space fore and aft to platforms above which are filled with bean bags, blankets, pillows, and other soft, nesting materials. Create a cuddle puddle with friends old and new while floating above the celebrations, enjoying the sites.
The bus is painted white and cloud forms are created by multiple layers of stretched canvas over frames that are translucent and backlit with programmable LED lighting. Angled, plastic mirrors surround the vehicle reflecting playa surface to observers enhancing the appearance of a floating cloud, and hiding the wheels.
We have programmed variations of light, music, sound, and fire to convey themes of a storm, calm, delight, and whimsy. Misters cool revelers on hot days. The flame poofer bathes them in warmth on chilly nights.
Our design is so informed and we’re committed to providing artistic and fabrication creativity that respects, not celebrates, the spirit of the mutant vehicle movement. We’ve fielded successful mutant vehicles before and have a sense of this artistic medium.
Fluffy is gonna delight our Burning Man community.
Building Fluffy!

We’re Going Back!
WE’RE GOING BACK TO BURNING MAN THIS YEAR. With our own new, big-ass flaming artcar. Hey there y’all, invitations just…

Fluffy the Dream Puff is real.
We found a Bus! It’s 40 feet and has a lift. It’s a 2008 bluebird conveniently located in Las Vegas.…

Meet Fluffy!
Lil Duane the filmmaker is documenting the build of Fluffy into a finished piece, but we’ll share snippets as we…

Fluffy Flies!
Our first crew work shift was wildly successful. Grinders, flying sparks, heat guns, brute force, gentle persuasion. Tunes and pizza.…

Fluffy Design Team Meets!
A bunch of the Art Team met to advance the design of this creature – especially the manifestation of clouds…

Fluffy Prepping for Paint!
Alas, the bulk of the effort in any painting project is the prep, so we’re deep into that for Fluffy.…

Fluffy Heaters Out, Power Wash and Paint Test
Duane and Cara remove the heaters from Fluffy, give them a good spray down and test the paint on their…

Fluffy Paint and Design!
Duane and Amey paint Fluffy in a single day! Then the design team meets to review the most recent prototypes.

Fluffy Windows Out and Cloud Design!
Every new step brings this mutant vehicle art car into greater focus. Largest work crew to date. Lucky 13 humans…

Camp Placement Application – Submitted!
We filed our 12-page Camp Placement Application today, in advance of tomorrow’s deadline. More progress toward gathering in that magical…

Fluffy Files – Cloud Attachments
No videography today, the filmmaker had the day off. But stills show the story of cleats running the length of…

Fluffy Flies – Begin Making Clouds!
FLUFFY FILES May 7 – Affix license plate, finish external cleating, and BEGIN MAKING CLOUDS!!!! Fabricators are Jack (in from…

They Want Fluffy!
THEY WANT FLUFFY!!! The DMV issued its formal invitation. Good thing, as we’re building this sucker.

Fluffy – Wiring Spaghetti and Making Clouds!
I had a chance to visit with Fluffy yesterday, spending the day wiring spaghetti while Rebar helped and measured. Wiki…

Fluffy’s Clouds – A New Approach!
It was another Fluffy day. We estimate we will need 40 sheets of plywood cut into interesting, intricate shapes to…

Fluffy The Clouds Are Getting Fluffier!
Fluff-date was a small corp cutting out clouds and cutting on Fluffy. Amey’s back! She worked with Coco to cut…

Painting Clouds and An Official Inspection!
Kane & DK from outta town, Amey & Gizzo on clouding. Plus formal inspection from the Black Rock City authorities!

Largest crew to date!! Check out what they got done!
A dozen artists and fabricators crank out the clouds, paint up a storm and advance the lighting performance. Oh, and…
– Dream Bus Design –
Inclusive Design
Riding on a mutant vehicle at Burning Man is a remarkable and memorable event. Yet that experience is often unavailable to many folks who have mobility or sight challenges.
We’re creating this latest mutant vehicle from scratch, so imagined how to be more inclusive. We settled on a 40′ bus platform, turns out there’s plenty out there with
working wheelchair lifts. And we’ve seen Braille rails that convey welcoming messaging to sight-impaired folks, so we can apply that to the handrails around Fluffery’s open space.
We’ve reached out to Mobility Camp and R.I.D.E and others to inform our design and operations to create a welcoming and inclusive experience for ALL Burners.
Sustainability Design
Six of our campers work at certified BCorps, so applying our sustainability values to this mutant vehicle project is second nature.
Our camp purchases (real) carbon offsets to account for all the carbon pollution we generate. We’ll accurately measure Fluffy’s impacts, and exceed them beyond mitigation toward positive impact. Fluffys building materials are reused, recycled, or sustainably sourced wherever possible – and toxic products are absolutely minimized.
And of course, our camp and mutant vehicle are Leave No Trace. Fluffy will travel with containers to collect the recyclable materials from our gifting programs – to ensure those materials elude the landfill and to absolve our community members from having to carry around our stuff.
Art Car History
Otter Camp
Duane’s Whirld began as part of Otter Camp almost 20 years ago and has been a growing presence every year.
Bleachers Art Car
We camped with the Bleachers Art Car both of the years it appeared, participating in its operation, delighting countless Burners.
Time Cycle
We brought forth the Time Cycle, an outrageous machine with 20’ wheels in 200? It was a complicated, ambitious project.
El Pulpo Mechanico & Rabid Transit
We are close with Duane Flatmo, contributing to the massive impact of El Pulpo Mechanico and Rabid Transit.


Come Be Fluffy with Us!
It is partly cloudy with a chance of magic.