The artist Sandra Hauser and the gelding Don Orèo go on a journey. For short stages they stay in different places. During the day, the artist practices with the horse, they meet people, discover places and intervene in situations related to Sandra Hauser's search and desire for change. Nighttime can provide space for short, unexpected performances, where passersby happen to witness the dreamlike illuminated passage of a rider with her horse. Hauser's performative activations of space tell of the socio-cultural imprint of humankind through the animal and in doing so carry the connection between humans and animals visibly and tangibly into public space.

The title I WOULD PREFER NOT TO comes from the protagonist in Melville's short story "Bartleby" (1853), which - against the backdrop of our post-Fordist society characterized by a general rigidity and insecurity - became the maxim of philosopher Slavoj Žižek's critical theory. Taking this up, Hauser's poetic endeavor is to be understood as a silent act of withdrawal from the logic of exploitation of art. In an immediate way, it formulates questions about freedom: What am I allowed to do? What may my counterpart do? Where is the public space? What is my space?