I Prefer Not To
Hito Steyerl in conversation

In a flute-like tone, Bartleby, the scrivener in a law office in the eponymous short story by Herman Melville, likes to respond to requests from his employer with the phrase “I prefer not to.” Maybe Bartleby’s withdrawal can be read as a form of resolution, an incantation for dealing with alienation from capitalist society. In this conversation, Hito Steyerl will speak about indiscernibility, how to become invisible, and eventually disappear. Following Bartleby’s queer formula, the conversation explores, among other issues, the character of artistic work between societal expectations and the art market.

Hito Steyerl lives and works in Berlin. Her artistic work continues to be formative for today’s art world.