The Removal of the Nuisance

Instrument — Sale of Absence · Issued by Various

The nuisance and its cure, sold by the same hand.

The Removal of the Nuisance completes a circuit the visitor rarely sees whole: the same party that inserts the interruption offers, for a fee, its removal. The nuisance is not a flaw in the free experience. The nuisance is the free experience's sales pitch.

The museum has, in the interest of accuracy, retained advertising in its own editorial halls. The removal of that advertising is available to patrons.

The specimen demonstrates that a seller may manufacture the very discomfort it proposes to relieve, and be paid at both ends of the transaction — once by the advertiser for the visitor's attention, and once by the visitor for its return.

The museum records that this is not a deception. The visitor is told plainly that the advertisement may be removed for a price. Everything about the arrangement is disclosed. Only its necessity is invented.

The remainder of this placard is reserved for the museum’s patrons. Your contribution of $2.00 ensures the continued preservation of this exhibit.

Provenance

c. 2010'Remove ads' becomes a standard in-app purchase.
2014Subscription tiers begin bundling ad-removal.
presentThe paid removal of inserted interruption is ubiquitous.