Skip to content

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!

– Dream Bus Design –

  • April

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.