Small mutant vehicles of Burning Man

Steampunk horse at Burning Man. — Steampunk, the fantasy world where life and machines meld together, is fairly common at Burning Man for costumes, art, and mutant vehicles. This horse is one of the best examples.

As noted in my last post, I’ve been sorting through and categorizing my Burning Man photos from the 11 years I have attended the event: 2004-5-6-7-9-10-12-13-14-15 and 17. I’ve created 15 categories and will do posts on several of my favorites from each category over the next several weeks.

In my last Burning Man post, I introduced some of the larger animal mutant vehicles that roam the Playa at Burning Man. Today is the turn of the smaller mutant animals, like the horse above. Check out the head and the expression in its face. If my innards looked like the horse’s, I’d be a little wild-eyed too. Usually if you see gears used like this, you can assume that you’ve entered the world of steampunk.

Pink pony mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — It would be really hard to find a horse more opposite from the steampunk horse!

There aren’t a lot of insects normally found on the floor of the Black Rock Desert. In addition to being hot and dry, there aren’t any plants. When Burning Man comes to town, so to speak, things change.

Praying Mantis mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — One of the most impressive bugs to ever visit the Playa was this praying mantis.

Buggy eyed mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — And it doesn’t get much more buggy eyed than this.

Beetle mutant vehicle at Burning Man with shell. — Any decent beetle needs a shell…

Bug mutant vehicle at Burning Man with a shell. — Right?

Dung beetle mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Now here’s a sweetie, a dung beetle. It rolls up a large dollop of poop and drags it along behind. I think it is supposed to be the home for its new children.

Burning Man has its share of fur bearing mammals that slip into the mutant vehicle category.

Cat car mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — The cat car is a favorite standby that makes it back to Burning Man year after year.

The kitty from the rear. I confess to finding the tail pipe rather amusing!

Green cat mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A cool cat of a different color!

Furry rabbit mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Rabbits range from this friendly, furry fellow you’d probably allow up on your bed if he weren’t so big.

Buck teeth rabbit mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — To this guy you wouldn’t let in your house…

To this one. You would probably get a rabies shot if you encountered it.

Dog mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Dogs are few and far between. And this one may be a cat. Anyway, one way or the other, I have probably insulted the dog or cat kingdom.

Tutu wearing dog mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — This robot looking dog is wearing a pink tutu, which is what I expect to see at Burning Man.

Normally, one avoids polar bears. But a polar bear carrying a rose? (Photo by my friend Tom Lovering.)

Small dragon mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A small, Chinese dragon? Or is it a duck?

Duck mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Now this is a duck! I think. It shoots fire out of its head at night.

Chicken pox mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Everyone recognizes chicken pox. Especially if it is labeled.

Turtle mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — I’m guessing that this mutant vehicle moves across the Playa slowly. (Photo by Don Green.)

I’ll wrap up today’s post with the king of beasts hitching a ride on a what… a whiskered slug? Do you have a clue?

NEXT POST: These mutant vehicles came out of the deep. There is something fishy about Burning man…

The Cat Car is a perennial favorite at Burning Man. This year she had a makeover and was looking quite snazzy.

A Mutant Vehicle is a unique, motorized creation that shows little or no resemblance to their original form, or to any standard street vehicle. Mutant Vehicles are radically, stunningly, (usually) permanently, and safely modified from their base vehicle. Sometimes the whole vehicle is made from scratch… the mutation should aim to provide a level of “radical visual stimuli” or “wow factor” for the other participants of Black Rock City. When a person sees this vehicle, their reaction should be “Wow! Look at that!” —Burning Man Organization

Burning Man covers some seven square miles. It isn’t surprising that there are lots of folks who would prefer to drive rather than walk or ride a bike there. America’s love affair with the automobile is well established. Why walk when you can drive?

Early on, however, it was decided that Burning Man would be a walking and bicycling kind of place. It was a good decision. The event wouldn’t work otherwise. An exception evolved over time, though. You could drive around if your vehicle became an art piece. The challenge here, of course, is defining an art piece. Why not glue a stuffed bear to your roof and call it art? Such thinking led BMO to come up with the description quoted above.

While Eeyore might make a cute hood ornament for my Toyota, it doesn't make my truck a mutant vehicle no matter how cute Eeyore is.

While Eeyore might make a cute hood ornament for my Toyota, he doesn’t make my truck a mutant vehicle— no matter how cute he is.

And there’s more. You just don’t show up at Burning Man and check in with the Department of Mutant Vehicles. There is a detailed application process. Months before the event you have to describe the vehicle, safety considerations, and reasons for wanting to bring an art car to Black Rock City. A sketch is required. Numbers are limited, so you need to get applications in early. If you plan to drive at night or have your vehicle shoot out flames over the Playa, there are further requirements. Assuming you meet all the criteria and obtain a license, your first stop at Burning Man is DMV. BMO wants to make sure the vehicle is as claimed.

As you can imagine, the amount of work and time required to build a Mutant Vehicle becomes a self-limiting factor on the numbers of mutant vehicles at Burning Man. You need to be prepared to spend thousands of dollars and/or hundreds of hours of work for more elaborate creations.

And finally, you have to agree to follow the rules. You can’t drive over five miles an hour, you can’t drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you have to give way for bicyclists and walkers, and you can’t drive through Black Rock City at 3 a.m. blasting music out of your mega speakers. The latter is guaranteed to bring a truckload of complaints down on BMO. Breaking the rules can get you grounded or may even bring a ticket. Law enforcement is extensive at Burning Man and drunk driving is drunk driving.

I’ve mentioned before that Mutant Vehicles come in all shapes and sizes. I thought that I’d feature the smaller, more personal vehicles today. I will include the larger ones in my next post.

The Cat Car as seen from the side…

Check out her snazzy steering wheel.

And her colorful butt. (grin) Her Burning Man Mutant Vehicle license is on the left.

Theses Burners had the clever idea of decorating their car like a Converse tennis shoe.

Theses Burners had the clever idea of decorating their Mutant Vehicle like a Converse tennis shoe, a relatively easy task to accomplish, I imagine.

Not so easy this gorgeous hot rod.

A rear view of the hot rod mutant vehicle form LA.

A rear view of the hot rod mutant vehicle from LA.

Its companion. The Black Rock Desert has been used for setting vehicle land records. Maybe these guys should compete.

The big nose of this fellow was exceeded in size by his big tongue.

A close up of the nose. Nice nostrils.

Golf carts can make handy sized Mutant Vehicles for two people. (Photo by Don Green.)

A night kitty Mutant Vehicle.

And a skull couch that looks quite comfortable to me.

And a couch that looks quite comfortable to me.

I found this VW at the Art Car Camp.

And what I am going to call Kilroy— although it may be a relaxed leopard perched up on the roof.

I found this impressive alligator lurking next to the NOLA Camp, which seemed like an appropriate location.

For my last example today, I found this impressive alligator lurking next to the NOLA Camp (on the right), which seemed like an appropriate location, given that New Orleans is located in bayou country.

Wandering through Time and Place

Exploring the world with Curtis and Peggy Mekemson

A Steampunk Horse and other Small Mutant Animals… 11 Years of Burning Man

From Furry Cats to Lurking Alligators… Burning Man’s 2015 Small Mutant Vehicles