Nikhil Chopra – an Indian Artist – donned mill worker’s clothes and created a charcoal panorama in Manchester. The Kolkata born artist, who combines the aesthetic with the physical aspect of art, spent 65-hours creating his masterpiece, and was watched by visitors to the gallery.

Check out Chopra doing some art in his pants

The event, entitled 'Coal on Cotton,' is designed to forge links between India and England’s two main M’s: Manchester and Mumbai. It is presented at the Whitworth Art Gallery. But it wasn’t a 65-hour straight slog for Chopra; the artist found time to sleep, which was ironic given that people were staying up to watch him do it. This human aspect only tied in further the working class struggle that he was depicted in front of their eyes, though.

A 40-minute snooze and a banana later, and he was back on track. 'Coal on Cotton' saw the gallery open continuously from dawn at 04:48 GMT on Friday 5 July to sunset at 21:37 BST on Sunday 7 July. It started with moving the cotton into the space, making a tent out of it, then drawing Manchester inside it while people looked on.

“When I started to put a magnifying lens on these two materials, I started to understand what a deep relationship Manchester has with these two materials,” Chopra told The BBC.

Watch Chopra's Manchester masterpiece take place

The Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke reviewed the piece, saying: “The real impact of hard-line performance art like this, though, arises from the commitment of the performer. Sixty-five hours is a mighty long time, and Chopra’s sincerity and concentration, a still point in the midst of the hubbub of the city, lends him the charismatic aura of a hermit or an ascetic guru.”