DESTROY reclaims narratives surrounding the complex existences of trans/queer bodies surviving under oppressive systems and cultures.
Queer art-rock ensemble Zara melds music, cinema, immersive technology, performance, and world-building in DESTROY, a new speculative work developed during their B2 residency. This transdisciplinary performance pushes beyond the traditional concert experience, exploring the intersection ofliveness and mediation. Drawing inspiration from works like Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave and The Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, Zara is constructing a world around their new album, also entitled DESTROY. This will culminate in a performance film, captured live at B2 on March 26, 2027.
Bios
Queer, art-rock ensemble Zara blends alt-rock genres with cinematic and symphonic sensibilities. Zara was founded by Seattle-based artist, Max Zara Bernstein (she/they). Bernstein received a BA in Media Study with a concentration in Film and Video Production, from the University at Buffalo, and an MFA in Film Production from CU Boulder. She has also designed, performed and toured as a video and sound designer and composer with The Wooster Group, Michelle Ellsworth, Laurie Andersion, Annie Dorsen, Kaki King, Cindy Kleine, Aynsley Vandenbroucke, Sam Kim, Morgan Gould, Becca Blackwell, and James Allister Sprang. Bernstein’s research and productions explore intersections of liveness and mediation, exploded cinema, queer futurism, post-human and eco-centric philosophies, the body and the sea. Bernstein is currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Film and Emerging Media in the Sidney Poitier New American Film School at ASU. While Bernstein is the primary composer, arranger, producer and designer for Zara, Zara’s live ensemble includes Dave Braun on drums, Brooke White on bass, Henry Mansfield on keyboards, Nikhita Sheller on saxophone, Anuj Pant on Guitar, Peter Nelson-King on baritone and trumpet, and julz on Viola, and Max Zara Bernstein on guitar and vocals.
