Poppy Jackson left many onlookers bemused this weekend after spending several hours naked on an East London roof. 

The performance artist – who previously tried to destigmatise periods by asking women to send her their menstrual blood – spent Friday and Saturday straddling the rooftop of Commercial Street's Toynbee Studios. And, despite plummeting Autumn temperatures and the visibly (very) uncomfortable position, she remained up there for a total of eight hours – between 1pm and 5pm each day.

The stunt was part of Jackson's latest project, titled “Site”, which apparently aims to investigate “questions relating to temporality, the body in site, representation and gender through consideration of the use of the body in performance as an activist practice.”

“My performance art led me to recognise how the body is political,” she explains. “It can do so many things and is just an amazing vehicle to say something about the state of society with – everyone has a body so people can all relate in some way.”

Many passers-by were left baffled by the performance though; with some people worried by her visual shivering.

“It looked very uncomfortable, I don't think there was anything between her and the rooftop,” witness Raquel Rodrigues told The Evening Standard. “I don't know how she got away with it – if I was walking around naked I'd be arrested.”

“There are lots of businesses around,” she added. “People were having a peek and then going back to work.”