NAKT-HAG

The last couple of months have been a somewhat nightmare. I do not have vast experience of making videos and have no one to advise as to the more technical details such as transference from program to program, codecs and all, so it has been endless hours of doing, testing and re-doing. I had to start all the artwork and so forth from scratch and compile anew. I have watched countless YouTube tutorials and followed advice only to find that, in my case, little was relevant and had to be discarded.
What I am trying to do is create a compilation which may be shown in galleries, and even submitted to a TV station, after this was suggested by a friend. Finally, the first of the videos was completed yesterday and a compressed version loaded up to YouTube. I hope some of you will go and view it (and if you are able to leave a comment that would be fantastic).

Here is the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUg9nd…

This is the video detail:
' Many years have passed since the catholic convent in Blackley, Manchester, interned young teenage girls, yet they who were once held captive within its walls have the experience seared into memory. Those who have seen the film 'The Magdalene Sisters' will have a good idea of what the place was like without me proffering a detailed description here. The differences were minor. The Blackley convent, known as The Convent of the Good Shepherd, is larger, and once accommodated forty to fifty girls, around twenty or so old women, institutionalised there for the majority of their lives, and many nuns. Standing, as a gothic monstrosity atop a hill with its own grounds, it was far more cut off from outsiders and very few entered and seldom. Moreover, the girls trapped there were not those who had fallen pregnant but who, for whatever reasons, found themselves part of the 'care' system.

I was held there for two and a half years, and although I have no knowledge of sexual abuse by the 'in house' priest, or any other, I can recall with clarity the hypocrisy, cruelty and extreme violence. This video is not an illustrative depiction and only merely alludes to this memory. It is far prettier and gentler than was the ugly, brutal reality. It rather focuses upon the fundamental freedoms of the Self and its wider sphere of existence - upon the truism that this cannot be either bound or imprisoned. The book imagery not only symbolises the leafing through the past, but references my love of literature which back then, and now,  makes harsh circumstance easier to bear.

In addition to the dedications already contained, a special one is extended to the girls who were incarcerated with me. I hope your lives have been full of happier times.'

All dolls lovingly fashioned by myself. Please visit my website: www.nakthag.com

Concept, Dolls, Artwork & Video : Eleanor Boyce
Music: Alexander Zafiropoulos
Spider & Owl animations: Mark Thomas
Special thanks to Ookami Kasumi
Copyright: NAKTHAG PRODUCTIONS. All rights reserved.

Some time ago, I discovered a few of my NURSERY CRYMES dolls had been rather naughty behind my back! Apparently, on the 8th of August last year, they climbed from the cabinets, sneaked out of the flat, out of town, travelled over the sea to Dublin, Ireland, and played at the Festival of the Chariots Benefit Gig charity gig!!!.

I found this out by lucky accident when doing a Google search on my images. I recognised their promo material immediately, it being created by myself for one of the YouTube videos - 'And Dolls Shall Rise'. Furthermore, the advertised link to the 'band page' was none other than the NURSERY CRYMES page on Facebook!!! I did, of course, click on it and, lo and behold, it was a genuine link to the page I created!!!

I interrogated them,  but none made any admissions. However, due to reactions (fidgeting, pinking up and casting glances to each other which they thought would go undetected) some certainly put themselves in the frame. Now, there may well have been others, roadies and dancers and all, but just who and how many culprits there were I could not tell. Subsequently, they managed to persuade the festival advertisers to remove their promo material and 'band link' from the website - www.festivalandgigguide.ie    -   but it was too late, I had seen it!

Initially, I kept a very watchful eye on these dolls after what had been revealed, lest they got into their heads to take off on a world tour!! However, I did strongly suspected something else was being planned because rather a lot of whispering was going on in the aftermath. But, time passed as it always does and my attention went elsewhere, especially since nothing further caused alarm - not, that is, until a package arrived on the doorstep.

That morning I was up earlier than usual, otherwise this package may well not have been intercepted. Not only was there the above promotional picture with a crafty little band name change, but four recordings!!!!!!

So, it transpired they had been busy all those months composing music and laying down tracks in some secret recording studio, the location of which remains a mystery. After gasping for breath in astonishment, I played through each of the recordings.   It only took a few moments before my feet were tapping and head bobbing, and in my enjoyment I forgot to be shocked, or even cross.  What resourceful and talented little creatures I had created!!

At the sound of giggling I turned to see three or four little dolly heads peeking around the door. "Happy Mothers Day", they chorused, grinning from ear to ear.

In the fevour of artistic creativity these dollies forgot their pain, their troubled spirits were soothed and they have put something in the world which did not exist before ... and the world is surely a better place for it.

DEDICATED TO ALL ABUSED CHILDREN - PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE!
All songs composed, played, recorded & mixed by NC Dolly Band.

Visit the NURSERY CRYMES branch fo my website www.nakthag.com - www.nakthag.com and give them a listen!