And as with other cases of body-waste art, Poop Swastika is not without its angry, devoted critics. The artwork drew outrage from social-justice campus-reform groups and even inspired one student to stage a hunger strike. Players from the Missouri football team threatened to boycott over the work; in short order, the threat led to the resignation of the university’s president.

Conceptual art — claiming the title of ‘avant-garde’ for nearly a century now — is traditionally meant to disrupt our normal perceptions.

Was this the reaction the creator of Poop Swastika was hoping for? Maybe, maybe not. The artist’s motivations remain obscure. Conceptual art — claiming the title of “avant-garde” for nearly a century now — is traditionally meant to disrupt our normal perceptions and the normal order of things in society.