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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his last significant endeavors. Recognized for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing societal issues from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to oppose the steady eradication of species. “Our task is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, remembers his drive for action. “I sensed a great 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 funding or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the project hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its impact can still be felt in initiatives like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the 18 lead artists taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. They have all produced imagery, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), biology (discussing the hereditary traits), and history (mapping the stories of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Each has stories behind them. The historical cultivar was imported 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 the natural world and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will engage visitors looking through an art institution on a mission to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a alert will occur and a recitation will be held to remember that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using organic, local produce. In another city, an artist is broadcasting her musical project, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to fill an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can provoke a feeling of duty from each person. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to address an iconic figure. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. The project began when he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to plant pansies at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and