Mobile stage car at Burning Man

An Out of This World Sculpture: Burning Man Mobile Stage Car

January 15, 2025

This past summer, Kerfkore panels headed to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to be featured in one of Burning Man’s iconic sculptures. 

Burning Man is a unique weeklong festival, described as “a global ecosystem of artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create art, events, and local initiatives around the world.” It all culminates with the burning of a large wooden sculpture. 

In 2023, Burning Man’s mobile stage car lost two of its featured alien sculptures (or were they abducted?). The festival enlisted Lester Corral from Fornature Designs to create replacements for the the 2024 festival using Kerfkore’s Worklite XPS Foamkore Panels.

The Versatility of Worklite XPS Foamkore Panels 

Kerfkore panels on shipping palettes

Kerfkore’s Worklite XPS Foamkore panels played a key role in helping Corral build the alien sculptures. 

These lightweight panels can reduce material weight by up to 80% compared to conventional materials, while the dense closed-cell core provides moisture resistance, thermal performance, and compressive strength. 

kerfkore panels that have been painted yellow

Our Foamkore panels come in large rectangles, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Worklite XPS offers the flexibility for fabricators to customize the material to get the exact shape needed for the project. With the help of a CNC machine, Corral was able to create custom shapes using XPS Foamkore that were then sanded, spray painted, and attached to supports to create the alien bodies. 

Corral painting the alien sculptures

Express Your Creativity with Kerfkore Panels 

Lester Corral’s Burning Man aliens are a prime example of the boundless creativity that Kerfkore’s architectural panels can bring to life.

Whether creating bright alien sculptures that withstand the heat of the desert or a subdued curved backdrop at the Art Institute of Chicago, Kerfkore panels are the key versatile material to accomplish your design. 

You can see more of Lester Corral’s work at his website. For more information on Kerfkore’s Lightweight and Flexible panels, check out our product catalog and request a sample to experience the panels in real life!  

Burning Man Gallery

a man sanding the kerfkore panels cut by a CNC machine

partially assembled alien sculptures

corral assembling the sculptures

assembled alien body  front view of the alien body on the stage car

stage car lit up at night

side shot of the stage car