Kenneth Bamberg

 
The unknown fates of bygones, lost and forgotten boat engines make me remember Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea - a novel where nothing is impossible if only dreams and hope exist.
 
I grew up in a family of fishermen in a fishing community on an island surrounded by the sea. The sea is an environment filled with ambition, potential welfare and enjoyment - but also with fear, trauma and setbacks. It is a cross-border site, created by people's migration, cultures and trade.
 
When I was a kid we had a few old outboard engine boats. The engines were the adventure machines that sped up the imagination and transported me from a regular weekday out to the adventurous sea. The exploration of the unknown had begun.
 
It sometimes happened that I ran aground in shallow waters, subsequently ruining the propeller. Similarily, having the engine come off and sink to the bottom of the sea. Sometimes I was stranded due to reasons mentioned above and my father, equally worried and pissed off, had to come looking for me. I promised to never do it again. However, for some reason the story always repeated itself.