Jason Hendardy: Signs of Control
Jason Hendardy’s book “This is a Test” delves into the cultural and psychological weight of the Emergency Broadcast System messages aired on American television from the 1960s to the 1990s.
In Jason Hendardy’s images, visions of daily life are often filtered through screens or cameras whose mediation, made visible, questions what the public gets to see, and what is kept secret. The alerts, originally created to notify citizens of potential national emergencies, carried a dual role of instilling fear through subtle control and shaping public perception.
My parents and I (Alex, Juty, Jason). 1988. A Hi8 still of Jason Hendardy with his parents.
When people ask you where you are from what do you say? 2023. A text between Jason Hendardy and his father.
Mission Street. 2009. A person passed out face-first in a house in the Mission District of San Francisco.
Jason Hendardy’s work presents a blend of personal narrative and visual art, connecting themes of immigration, the American dream, and family history. The book captures the tension of navigating intergenerational conflicts and questions of belonging.
Untitled (Front Porch). 2023. A photograph of a front porch manipulated on a tubed television using a modified color corrector.
This is a test. 2023. From 1963 to 1997 the Emergency Broadcast System ran tests on broadcast television in order to establish a method for the President of the United States to communicate with the American public in the event of war, threat of war, or grave national crisis.
Untitled (House). 2023. A photograph where the camera is panning and blurring a home.
