"The Homecoming of Navel Strings" is an installation by Noritoshi Hirakawa, from New York, that was presented in 2003-2005 at various European exhibitions, including "London Frieze Art Fair" in Regent's Park and Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt. It's about a young woman sitting next to a pile of human shit, and passing the time, reading a Philip Pullman novel. The shit pile was re-appearing, being new and fresh, each morning during the six-day event. Above the woman, there was held a magenta painting of a human sphincter. The woman, Silk Waegand, confirmed it is her own shit.



Some visitors were leaving the installation room too fast with no explanations. ''He doesn't want to shock,'' Ms. Waegand said of the artist. ''He wants people to think about things differently.''

''I've never seen so many people walk out with smiles on their faces.'', said Udo Kittelmann, who was the Museum's of Modern Art director by that time.