John Akre

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

STATEMENT OF ARTIST PRACTICE

Animation is magic. In creating movies on a nearly atomic level (frame by frame) I can, as an animator, turn straw to gold and gold to fuzzy caterpillars. I revel in the ever-expanding history of animation, enjoying and being inspired by the work of those who animated before me, and those many more who will be animating after me. Stop motion animation of collage is at the very beating heart of my work, by combining objects that I find with objects that I make I can show the pictures that I see in my head. Collage allows me to create work in collaboration with relatives and artists who are no longer walking the earth and also with people who are standing right next to me. I create collage animation because it is really the ultimate form of art.

ARTIST BIO

John Akre is an animator, videomaker, and teaching artist who lives in Louisville, KY, USA. His career in animation began in the 1970’s, when he made movies from clay figures and paper cut-outs as a youth. He attempts to maintain the wonder and magic he felt making his first films in his animation making today. Through his portable Sloppy Films Animation Station, he explores how he can create animation in collaboration with community on location. He founded and handed over to others MinnAnimate, a yearly animation screening and celebration in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He has taught animation to youth and adults at Hamline University and FilmNorth in Minnesota, and at many schools. His films have shown at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Thomas Edison Film Festival, and at many other festivals and screenings.

CONTACT

johnakre.com

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Examples of Collage in Motion

The Hole in the Sky

Somewhere up there is a hole in the sky. It has powers over us that we don’t even really want to understand. “The Hole in the Sky” was made out of a hand-scratched 16mm science film and various found items animated under the camera.

Directed and animated by John Akre
Music by Andy McCormick.

Harry Smith’s Storage Hat

Harry Smith was one of the founders of collage animation. This is a tribute to him.

Animation and song by John Akre

Charlotte’s Photographs

The forgotten snapshots of a nurse in 1940’s Minneapolis take us into the world of women’s work in this animated musical documentary.

Photographs by Charlotte Walker
Music by Marla Goodman
Narration by Jill Underwood
Produced by Beth Peloff
Directed and animated by John Akre

Free Associates

A treatise on one of our most important rights.

Directed and animated by John Akre

Henry’s Scrapbook

My great grandfather visited the San Francisco Bay Area in 1953 and left this scrapbook about his visit. Fifty years after his trip, in 2003, I went there and made a sketchbook.

Scrapbook by Henry Akre
Music by Andy Waltzer
Henry’s Voice: David Sandberg
Directed and animated by John Akre