Valentino Zvonarek

My motivation to take part in the exhibition was to showcase how the pandemic didn’t necessarily divide people and isolated them. I wanted to show how actually the way how we look at things determines us as humans/artists. I see this exhibition as a chance to connect with even more artists around to globe.

The story, as you can see, I contacted you with the name Valentino, but then suddenly KTMN Productions pops up, out of nowhere, and then we have the names of Marko, Stefania, Ante, Dario, Largo, and so on.. Who are these people? What is it all about? Let me take a moment of your time to explain everything. We come from Rijeka, Croatia. Marko was making beats at home for some time before the pandemic. Valentino (myself) was doing photography and Art for some time before the pandemic struck. We two used to work in a restaurant, you guessed it, before the pandemic. And we never actually imagined doing anything together. But as you know, Covid came around the corner.

So, I was sitting at home, thinking about what to do next, and then after some phone calls with Marko we came out with the idea of combining his sample beats which he arranges with a guitar solo, which he then mixes into musical pieces, and me searching the web for sample videos uploaded by photographer and videographers around the World and then mixing it all together to make something new. sounds confusing, right? I know 🙂 basically, we wanted to connect people, not to make a side hustle. He was in the musical production for a while, while I was in the photographic/videographic world on my behalf. we just started working on something together. and yes, the hardest part was contacting the people that made these videos possible 🙂 because, well, they have no idea what their stuff is used for, and the same goes for the musical production.

Finding those people around the globe was a big struggle and still is.

And I think the biggest satisfaction came when Stefania and Largo actually contacted us. when they were happy to see what we made out of their videos. You see, the whole goal of KTMN Productions (will explain the name in a bit) was not to make money by using other people’s work.

it was about connection, showing how even during the pandemic, people on the opposite sites of the globe can actually do something together even if they never actually meet in real life. it is all about Art.

And why the name KTMN Productions? the name was inspired by a song I used to listen too often during the pandemic, named KTMN by the band Razz. in a way they influenced me also to start this whole thing with Marko.

I would say KTMN stands for the numbness we all thought we were when Covid started. But sometimes, it is all what we make out of it. Life is a miracle, Art is something we can all create and imagination has no limits.

Art doesn’t know any boundaries or borders, and in the end, if Marko and I caught the attention of just one human on this planet with our work, and perhaps inspired him… well, I guess we made it then 🙂 so, that’s the story. and no, without the pandemic, none of this would ever happen.

It was and still is, like a Butterfly effect and I am curious to see where it will all lead us in the future. for me, it changed me, and even now typing this whole story, memories come back, and it is funny how life can change in an instant. let’s see where it all goes from here 🙂 Vale

Ante/The Astronaut is all about dreams.

The hero of our story, Ante, follows his dreams, no matter what. you see, Ante is an astronaut. and he travels.

To the Moon, to Mars, to the stars. he is not listening to other people who want to shatter his dreams. he follows them. the thing is, although he lives an “ordinary” life, Ante never gave up on his childhood dream. He wants to travel the stars. he wants to be an astronaut. and when he wears that suit and roams the planet in search of a space rocket to take him to the Moon and back, he is one step closer to his dream. now, let us ask ourselves the same question.

Do we follow our dreams? Or did we gave up eventually? Are we pursuing the “goals” of society or did we managed to take a middle path and still follow our dreams, even in the slightest way?

The video was made by using video samples provided by Tom Leishman (Pexel account in the description of the video)

Music was made by Marko Lovšin and his friends using a guitar to make a guitar solo and then arrange it again by mixing up beats provided by Free Music Archive.