🔗 Share this article

Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final important works. Recognized for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of species. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

In this way Remember Nature was established, a day when artists across the country created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, remembers his drive for action. “He had a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its influence can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to commemorate its decade milestone. Part of the key participants involved this time are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with one participant, she is out in a field in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about maths (calculating the gaps in the orchard), science (studying the genetic makeup), and history (researching the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

In London, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring an art institution on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in modern times. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a performance will be performed to commemorate that individual formation.

At the same time, up in a northern town, a creative will be presenting a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a communal feast, made using sustainable ingredients. In another city, an artist is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Children’s Voices

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 kids’ letters and drawings that document their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will inspire a awareness of obligation from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about positivity and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is aiming to address an iconic figure. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. That ongoing series began when he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since spiralled to cover events experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the direct association – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to plant pansies at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the events and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and