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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his final significant endeavors. Recognized for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our task is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his last days, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its influence can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), genetics (studying the apple’s DNA), and origins (tracing the stories of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces crimson liquid. They all have background narratives. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will engage visitors searching a major gallery on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a reading will be held to remember that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a communal feast, cooked from organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to decorate an art space in children’s artwork that express their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. That ongoing series began when he faced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The project on 4 November is to plant pansies at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the events and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and