British-American artist Danielle Dean’s exhibition “Out of this World” is her first solo exhibit in Canada, and uses archival records, footage from films and advertising as well as materials that were shot specially for this work. She has exhibited widely in Britain and the USA, including the Tate Britain and the Whitney Biennale.
Danielle Dean in front of Mercer Union. Photo: Phil Anderson
Her film Hemel portrays Hemel Hempstead, a town of some 100,000 people, about 24 miles northwest of London. As Theresa Wang, Director & Curator of Mercer Union said at the opening reception: “Hemel offers a way of understanding how our familiar worlds are made and how we contend with those histories. For Mercer Union, the film asks important questions about the role of communities in times of societal change, and the underlying structures that support their creation.”
The town of Hemel goes back to the 8th century and was originally named Haemele meaning broken country. After World War II the New Towns Act of 1946 proposed a new planned community there. The residents of Hemel were opposed to some of the design features, but it was still built with identical buildings in uniform streets.
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Courtesy the artist and 47 Canal, New York. Photo: Vuk Dragojevic.
Dean’s artworks are often research based, exploring issues of race and labour strife. The film, Hemel, slides in and out between fiction and reality. Dean uses old footage of a 1957 sci-fi horror B-movie, that was shot in the town. It’s about a non-human entity that infiltrates the minds of the people and endangers their lives with a toxic black slime that engulfs the community.
As a child Dean grew up in Hemel and as a person of colour experienced incidents of racism there. At one point in the film, she talks to her mother about these experiences. Her mother says, she thought Dean had a happy childhood but admits there were moments of racist interaction but seems to downplay it. It is an awkward moment with an uncomfortable effect.
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Courtesy the artist and 47 Canal, New York. Photo: Vuk Dragojevic.
The 29-minute 16 mm film has a dark grainy visual presence at times but is mixed with colour footage. Again, Dean has used archival material with her own film footage.
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Courtesy the artist and 47 Canal, New York. Photo: Vuk Dragojevic.
The town has a history of attracting large industry that brought an influx of workers who were not always welcomed by residents. Real events pop up in Dean’s portrait of this town such as the 2005 explosion and fire at the Buncefield Oil Depot, one of the largest fires during which flames and smoke could be seen for miles.
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Photo: Phil Anderson
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Photo: Phil Anderson
Dean uses other footage to show the meteor shower of 2023 in the film. The grainy archival appearance gives the work a dark and foreboding feeling as Dean takes us on this journey piecing together the history of the town mixed with creative contemporary footage.
Danielle Dean: Out of this World. Installation view: Mercer Union, 2024. Photo: Phil Anderson
Mercer Union was once the Academy Theatre, a 390-seat theatre from 1934 to 1965 and so it almost seems to have returned to its past by hosting Dean’s new film. Hemel does not use professional actors and Dean pops in and out of the camera’s view, but despite it seeming somewhat fragmented, it connects well with the viewer.
Danielle Dean: Out of This World is the 7th project developed through Mercer Union’s Artist First commissioning platform. Indeed, Dean’s Hemel successfully takes its audience on an exploration of the town exposing many layers, including the architecture and history of the town and its residents, while engaging the viewers.
*Exhibition information: Danielle Dean: Out of this World, featuring Hemel, a 29 min. film, April 13 – June 15, 2024, Mercer Union, 1286 Bloor St. West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue – Sat 11 am – 6pm.
A Commissioned Exhibition Supported by Canada Council / Part of the CONTACT Photography Festival.