Art student Matt Sobel, enjoys redefining the traditional definition of art by fusing art with film, something he attempts in his upcoming movie, “X to Y.”
The third-year art student said he is concerned that people often do not consider film an art form, instead focusing on more traditional mediums such as painting or sculpture.
“There is no real distinction between the two. I’m really interested in finding the point where filmmaking and art meet,” Sobel said.
The short narrative film puts forth the idea that unborn children, which Sobel called “pre-births,” must force their parents together so that they can be born, he said.
By communicating with parents subconsciously, the unborn child controls the romantic destinies of their future guardians.
“X to Y” follows the trials of Toby, a pre-birth who has been waiting to be born for 5,000 years, Sobel said.
When the time finally comes, Toby becomes apprehensive toward life on earth and elects to stay unborn, Sobel said.
In the end, though, Toby has no choice and is born, though his birth simultaneously suggests a burial.
The film visually links beginnings and endings to demonstrate the human fear of change and passage from one stage to another, Sobel said.
In order to emphasize that art students’ educations extend to film, Sobel said he plans to screen his film for an audience in the theater in the Broad Art Center.
“The art school does film too, and a lot of people seem to forget that,” Sobel said.
Sobel said he hopes his film will be a “seedbed for conversation” and will stir up the audience.
He added that he believes a piece of art does not necessarily have one single meaning and that the artist does not always know best.
“If there are 200 people viewing something, there are 200 different versions of it,” he said. “The job of the artist is to create something that will generate ideas. It means all of what you think; there is no one right answer.”
The film is no small project, and Sobel said he began working on the idea as far back as high school.
Filming was completed in the summer and final edits and digital effects are currently being completed, he added.
After showing the film in the Broad Art Center, Sobel said he plans to submit it to the Sundance Film Festival.
Lauren Silva, a fellow third-year art student, described Sobel as the most ambitious artist she has ever met and said she looks forward to seeing the film.
As art students, Silva’s and Sobel’s educations span all forms of art. Sobel said he is required to take an array of classes and works with a variety of media.
He said all art students are required to take studio and background classes in painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, and sculpture.
“When creating something, there is a decision-making process, but you need the skill behind it, which you learn in classes. Then you can make it do what you want it to do,” Sobel said.
He added that most of his artwork is not created for a class. Instead, he said classwork often inspires larger outside projects.
Sobel and other undergraduate art students will display their work this upcoming week beginning Feb. 7 in an exhibition in the New Wight Gallery at the Broad Art Center, said Carolyn Campbell, the director of communications and marketing at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.
The show features works in various media, including painting and drawing, photography, ceramics, new genres and sculpture, Campbell said.
The exhibition will begin this coming Thursday with a discussion with juror Ali Subotnik, followed by an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m.
It will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and continue through Feb. 27. Admission is free.