Jon Bernson is an Emmy and Peabody Award–winning media artist whose interdisciplinary work spans film, theater, audio-visual art, and music. His shape-shifting projects push the boundaries of narrative storytelling, often exploring existential themes with a slow-burn, tragicomic sensibility. Based in San Francisco and working from his Oakland studio, he has held residencies at the de Young Museum, Playwrights Foundation, The Space Program, and The Imaginists.
Recent projects include Semiochemical Translator, Bernson’s latest addition to The Naturalists, an ongoing project that premieres as a stage production with The Imaginists in March 2026. Previous installments include Ideal Solutions by The Naturalists Group (seven-channel video), presented at Stanford Art Gallery and 120710; Zero Gravity Experiments (360-degree photography) at Minnesota Street Project; Primary Sources (video installation) at Ivy Hill Arts; and Chronological Experiments by The Naturalists Group (VR short film).
Other projects include Third Eye Moonwalk, exhibited in various forms at Minnesota Street Project, Catharine Clark Gallery, Stanford University, Custom Made Theater, and The Growlery. Bernson received grants from the Rainin Foundation (New & Experimental Works) and the Venturous Theater Fund to produce Interview with Traveler #582, an experimental film that premiered at the Arizona International Film Festival, Sci-Fi-London, and Festival Fotogenía in Mexico. He collaborated on Sound Affects, a large-scale multimedia installation at Sonos Studio in Los Angeles, and Beautification Machine, a sound sculpture created with Andy Diaz Hope. Exhibited at Catharine Clark Gallery, Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, and Miami Project, Beautification Machine was acquired by the Nevada Museum of Art for its permanent collection.
As a musician, Bernson has written and recorded more than twenty albums under multiple names, including Exray’s, whose music was featured in David Fincher’s Academy Award–winning film The Social Network. His sound design was featured in After the Fallout, Sam Wolson’s 2020 VR documentary about the Fukushima meltdown, an official selection at Sundance. Bernson also scored, sound designed, and mixed Reeducated, a VR/Ambisonic documentary for The New Yorker, which premiered at SXSW and won an Emmy and a Peabody Award in 2022 for interactive media. In 2024, he scored, sound designed, and edited The New Yorker’s interactive documentary Cleared by Fire, about the role of U.S. Marines in the 2005 Haditha massacre in Iraq.
Bernson is the author of eight produced plays, including four with StoryWorks Theater and Reveal (The Center for Investigative Reporting): A Guide to the Aftermath (2013), North by Inferno (2015), Overnighters Is Over (2016), and When Lighting The Voids (2019). Voids was also produced as an audio drama and a special episode of the Reveal podcast, airing on 485 public radio stations nationwide. In addition to his contributions as a playwright, Bernson is the StoryWorks Artistic Producer and a founding company member.
CV
2026
The Naturalists – Script, audio-visual design, and direction / Stage play (The Imaginists, Santa Rosa, CA)
Chronological Experiments by The Naturalists Group – Writer/Director for VR Mockumentary (Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, New York, NY)
Semiochemical Translator – Single-channel video / Group show curated by Anton Stuebner & Marcia Tanner (Run Fast, Bite Hard, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Ideal Solutions by The Naturalists Group – Seven-channel video installation + collages + prints / Group show curated by Brett Amory, Shane Denson, and Karin Denson (Extra/phenomenalities, Stanford Art Gallery, Palo Alto, CA)
Mastaba VR Demo – Sound design for proposed installation in the Liwa Desert, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Christo and Jeanne-Claude Estate)
The Seaplanes – News Traveled Fast – Original song + collaged album cover for Unheard Music, curated by Sonny Smith, presented in Instability at the Core (The Space Program group exhibition, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA)
2025
Close Calls – Both Side Convenience – 12" vinyl LP + digital release (Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
Ideal Solutions by The Naturalists Group – Seven-channel video installation / Group show curated by Brett Amory and Shane Denson (Non/phenomenalities, 120710 Gallery, Berkeley, CA)
Electionland – Cinematography and video editing for documentary feature (StoryWorks / U.S. Capitol Historical Society)
Portable Redwood Museum – Tape player with audio collage (Sawtooth Fortress Hut group show, Los Angeles, CA)
Close Calls – Strange Tastes of Time – Music video + single (Howells Transmitter / YouTube)
2024
Cleared by Fire – Score, sound design, and audio mix for interactive documentary (The New Yorker)
Zero Gravity Experiments – 360 photography (We Are Stardust group show curated by The Space Program, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA)
Reeducated – Score, sound design, and audio mix for theatrical release of the 2022 VR documentary about Muslim internment camps in China. Commissioned by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
Close Calls – JPEGS – Music video + single (Howells Transmitter / YouTube)
2023
Interview with Traveler #582 – Co-director, screenplay, and score for experimental short film. Official Selection: Arizona International Film Festival; Sci-Fi-London; Greenpoint Film Festival; Montreal Shorts; Fotogenia (Mexico City); New Hope Film Festival. Funded by Kenneth Rainin Foundation and Venturous Theater Fund.
The Imaginists – Artist residency (Santa Rosa, CA)
Sunset Media Wave – California Arts Council grant to publish four full-color volumes of work by San Francisco high school artists (Bay Area Community Resources, San Francisco, CA)
Portable Redwood Museum – Audio collage (Pyramid Scheme group show, Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
2022
Beautification Machine – Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope (Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, San Francisco, CA)
Higher Lows – People of the Sun – Director, editor, and original music for music video (YouTube)
To The Naked Eye – Curator of group show featuring 20 video artists (Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA)
Now’s the Time – Storyboard artist, second camera, and sound designer (StoryWorks Theater / United States Capitol Historical Society: We the People – Online Hub)
2021
Reeducated – Score, sound design, and ambisonic mix for VR documentary about Muslim internment camps in China (The New Yorker / Pulitzer Center). Official Selection: SXSW; Venice International Film Festival; New Images; Taipei. Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Media; Peabody Award for Immersive Media.
Third Eye Moonwalk – A Guided Tour – Short film, photography, and GIFs (All of Us Projects, Oakland, CA)
Higher Lows – Original music for LP (First edition screen-printed 12" vinyl LP + digital release: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
Higher Lows – Fahrenheit 450 – Director, editor, and original music for music video (Week in Pop)
2020
Awakenment: Seven Meditations – Single-channel video installation with original score (Remote Access, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
After the Fallout – Immersive sound design for VR documentary about the Fukushima aftermath. Official Selection: Sundance (Park City, UT); SXSW (Austin, TX); CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Campfire for Dream Farm Commons – Single-channel video installation (Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA)
StoryWorks: When Lighting The Voids – Artist talk on politics and the press (Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS)
The Contract – Single-channel video (Long Distance Radar online series, Las Vegas, NV)
2019
When Lighting The Voids – Script, score, and sound design for radio play (StoryWorks / 500 public radio stations / Reveal podcast / PRX / Spotify / Apple Music / Stitcher)
When Lighting The Voids AR – Script, score, and sound design for augmented reality audio exhibition (Grey Area, San Francisco, CA)
The Space Program – Artist-in-residence (San Francisco, CA)
When Lighting The Voids – Script, score, video, and sound design for official premiere (StoryWorks, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA)
StoryWorks: The Intersection of Theater & Journalism – Artist talk (Bay Area Playwrights Festival, San Francisco, CA)
SFMOMA – SECA Award Nominee
2018
Third Eye Moonwalk – Concurrent audio-visual installations (Catharine Clark Gallery BOXBLUR + Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA)
When Lighting The Voids – Stage reading (Bay Area Playwrights Festival, San Francisco, CA)
Exray’s – Logbook – Script, score, and sound design for audiobook (Cassette + digital release: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
Third Eye Moonwalk – Audio-visual installation (Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Exray’s – Tepidusmare – Script, score, and sound design for single (Lathe-cut 7" + digital release: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
Dylan Diaries – Sound design for video collaboration with Josephine Taylor (Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Awakenment – Single-channel video (Media Room, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA)
Playwrights Foundation – Resident Playwrights Initiative. Four-year residency (2015–2018, San Francisco, CA)
2017
Fake Newsroom – Deputy editor and contributor (Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA)
Third Eye Moonwalk – Stage readings (Stanford University, Stanford, CA / Custom Made Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
Exray’s – Begin Your Lives – Original music for single (Lathe-cut 7" + digital release: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
Stalactite Beautification Machine – Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope (Private commission, Mountain View, CA)
Poetry Is News That Stays News – Moderator (Dodge Poetry Festival, Newark, NJ)
Phonographic Memory – Artist talk (San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA)
2016
Beautification Machine – Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope. Added to the permanent collection of the Nevada Museum of Art (Reno, NV)
Overnighters Is Over – Script, score, video, and sound design (StoryWorks / International Documentary Association / Academy of Motion Pictures, Linwood Dunn Theater, Los Angeles, CA)
god(s)(ess)(es) – Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope. Jury Prize Winner, InLight Richmond (Richmond, VA)
Exray’s – Twelve – Original music for LP (Lathe-cut 7" + digital release: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc.)
North by Inferno – Script, score, and video design for play (StoryWorks: Edge Festival for New Work & Dakota Stage, Bismarck, ND)
Certificate of Honor – 20 years of community work at Sunset Media Wave and SNBC (City of San Francisco, Board of Supervisors)
2015
de Young Museum – Artist-in-residence (San Francisco, CA)
Antiprism / Distant Future Symposium – Audio-visual installation and performance (de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA)
Beautification Machines – Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope (Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Ultraviolet – Video collaboration with Michael Falsetto-Mapp (Juxtapoz Magazine)
Sound Affects – Collaborative installation with Merrill Garbus, Jemma Woolmore, and P-a-t-t-e-r-n-s Architecture (Sonos Studio, Los Angeles, CA)
Early Encounters with the Antiprism – Video collaboration with Michael Falsetto-Mapp (Gatherings & Conversations group show, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Vanishing Point – Video collaboration with Michael Falsetto-Mapp (Guerrero Gallery, Art Market, San Francisco, CA)
North by Inferno – Script, score, and video design for play (StoryWorks: Edge Festival for New Work & Dakota Stage, Bismarck, ND)
2014
Beautification Machine - Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope (Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
Vessel XII Press Conference - Screenplay & score for video collaboration with Michael Falsetto-Mapp (Decoder Magazine)
Beautification Machine - Multimedia sculpture collaboration with Andy Diaz Hope (Miami Project / Art Basel / Miami, FL)
Exray’s - The Dome / Original music for EP(Cassette + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams (Sound design for play / Tides Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
Subliminal Messages - Curator of ambient music series: 2012-2014 (Tides Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
This is Home by Donte Clark, Deandre Evans, & William Hartfield - Sound design for play (Storyworks / Reveal / Off-Page Project / San Francisco, CA)
Auditorium - Co-Founder & Instructor for audio class (Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center, Sunset Youth Services & Ruth Asawa School of the Arts: 2007-2014 / San Francisco, CA)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams - Sound design for play (Tides Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
2013
A Guide to the Aftermath - Script, score & sound design for play (StoryWorks, Tides Theatre, & Reveal / San Francisco, CA)
PDX to OKJ - Interactive play on Amtrak train (Spur Happenings / Portland, OR to Oakland, CA)
THEMAYS - WORKSPACE / Original music for EP (Howells Transmitter: Cassette + Digital / Bandcamp)
Sees All, Knows All - Interview with Sonny Smith (Decoder Magazine)
Window Twins - Wish / Original music for LP (12”vinyl / Volar Records / Bandcamp)
Window Twins - Thunder & Lightning / Music video collaboration with Colin Held (My Old Kentucky Blog)
Golden Beach Piano - Outdoor Installation (Ocean Beach, San Francisco)
The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman - Sound design for play (Tides Theatre, San Francisco, CA)
Sunset Media Wave - Editor-in-Chief / Founder of city-funded multimedia blog for teen writers, photographers, writers, musicians & visual artists 2013-Current (San Francisco, CA)
2012
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - Score & sound design for play (Tides Theatre / San Francisco, CA)
Window Twins - Wish / Original music for LP (Cassette & Digital: Crash Symbols / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Exray’s - Trust a Robot / Original music for LP(Cassette + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Line in the Sand - Outdoor Installation (Ocean Beach / San Francisco)
Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche by Evan Linder & Andrew Hobgood - Sound design for play (Tides Theatre / San Francisco, CA)
Exray’s - Ancient Thing / Music video collaboration with Michael Falsetto-Mapp, Jeanie Applegate & Kyle Giacomo (Indpendent Film Channel)
Future Twin / Situation - Audio production for LP (Cassette)
THEMAYS - THEWORKS / Original music for EP (CD: Self-released)
2011
Exray’s - Hesitation / Original music for major motion picture (The Social Network / Directed by David Fincher / Sony)
Exray’s - Self-titled / Original music for LP(12” vinyl + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Exray’s - Ancient Thing / Original music for single (Plexiglass 7” vinyl + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
2010
Exray’s - Ammunition Teeth / Original music for EP(Cassette + Digital: Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Window Twins - Fourth Place / Original music for online single (Bay Bridged)
THEMAYS - KNOWFI / Original music for EP (CD / Gigante Sound)
Exray’s - Everything Goes / Original music for single on compilation LP (In a Cloud 12” LP / Secret Seven Records)
THEMAYS - WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU / Remix for compilation (Motown Meltdown, Vol. 2 / Gigante Sound)
2009
Window Twins - I’m This Tall City / Original music for LP (LP + Digital: Broken Twilight & Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Ray’s Vast Basement - I See the Day / Cover for compilation Wiretap Music Presents: Covers / CD + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
THEMAYS - KNOWFLY / Original music for compilation (Ball of Wax Quarterly, Vol. 16 / Single for CD)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - Sound design for play (Actors Theatre of San Francisco)
2008
Ray’s Vast Basement - Split with Fences / Original music for compilation (Astronomy Club Ghost Story #25)
Ray’s Vast Basement - I Can Be Alone / Original music for compilation (Surprise Parte Hoptimiste / Vivonzeureux)
2007
Ray’s Vast Basement - Starvation Under Orange Trees / Original music for LP (CD + Digital: Howells Transmitter / Spotify / Apple Music / etc)
Ray’s Vast Basement - By a River Burning Blue / Original music for mixtape (Hoptiliste / Vivonzeureux)
2006
Ray’s Vast Basement - Of Mice and Men / Original music for Actors Theatre of San Francisco production (CDR: Self-released)
2005
The Trip to Bountiful by Horton Foote - Sound design for play (Actors Theatre of San Francisco, CA)
The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams - Sound design for play (Actors Theatre of San Francisco, CA)
2004
Ray’s Vast Basement - She Is My Diary / Original music for compilation (Isn’t it Romantic: poetry book with accompanying CD / Verse Press)
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller - Sound design for play (Actors Theatre of San Francisco, CA)
2003
Ray’s Vast Basement - By a River Burning Blue Blue (CD + Digital: Self-released)
2001
Ray’s Vast Basement - On the Banks of the Time / Original music for LP (CD + Songbook / Card Set / Self-Released)
World Cafe - Ray’s Vast Basement live performance & interview (WXPN Philadelphia & 700 NPR stations nationwide)
2000
Ray’s Vast Basement - Sounds from Drakesville / Original music for EP (Cassette / Self-Released)
SELECTED PRESS
American Theater Magazine (Bay Area Playwrights Festival preview)
Kuntscapades (Podcast Interview)
KQED Arts (Antiprism / Interview & de Young installation review)
Juxtapoz Magazine (Antiprism / de Young Museum residency preview)
Hyperallergenic (Beautification Machine / Review)
SF Weekly (Beautification Machine / Review)
Prefix Magazine (Exray's / Album Review)
Pitchfork (Exray's / Forkast)
Consequence of Sound (Window Twins / Album Review)
Portals (THEMAYS / Album Review)
SF Weekly (Ray's Vast Basement / Feature)
Tiny Mix Tapes (Window Twins / Album Review)
Aquarium Drunkard (Ray's Vast Basement / Album Review)
Decoder Magazine (THEMAYS / Album Review)
The Fader (Window Twins / Remix Premiere)
Litquake (Exray's / Multimedia Reading of Vessel XII)
Song by Toad (Ray's Vast Basement / Album Review)
SF Chronicle (A Guide to the Aftermath / Playwrighting Feature)
The Bay Bridged (Exray's / Album Review)
Kata Rokkar (Exray's / Live Show Coverage)
Turntable Kitchen (Exray's / Album Review)
Bay Bridged (Show with Michael Zapruder / Preview)
SELECTED INTERVIEWS
Bandcamp (Exray's / Twelve)
KUNR / NPR Reno (Beautification Machine)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Antiprism / Indispensable Series)
Insomniac (Sound Affects / Review & Interview)
Impose Magazine (Antiprism / de Young residency preview)
Interview Magazine (Window Twins / Wish)
Impose Magazine (Exray's / Trust a Robot)
PRTLS (Window Twins / Wish)
Reveal Radio (A Guide to the Aftermath / Storyworks)
The Rumpus (Interview & podcast with Jenna Welch)
The Bay Bridged (Subliminal Messages / Ambient music series at Tides Theatre)
SF Chronicle (Ray's Vast Basement / Starvation Under Orange Trees)
The Conversant (Songwriting process)
Largehearted Boy(Ray's Vast Basement / Starvation Under Orange Trees)
The Signal & Noise (Exray's - The Social Network / Ammunition Teeth)
The Bold Italic (Exray's / Rock Make Street Festival)
