Bharat Sikka — A Set of Tapes

A collection of cassette tapes discovered in a Los Angeles thrift store became the organising premise for this work.

Their familiar structure two sides separated by a continuous magnetic ribbon offered artist Bharat Sikka both a material and conceptual framework through which to think about photography, sequence and memory.

The publication unfolds as Side A and Side B, corresponding to two journeys made months apart. The first follows Sikka as he accompanies his daughter to Los Angeles to begin film college, introducing her to America through the shared rituals of the road trip. The second retraces that journey when he returns to bring her home after her first semester. Rather than describing a linear narrative, the book establishes a rhythm of departure and return, allowing distance, repetition and duration to become the work’s primary subjects.