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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last significant endeavors. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of species. “The mission is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

Thus the environmental art day came into being, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his sense of urgency. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – let’s not mess around. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, the initiative may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their methods. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its decade milestone. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

In conversation with one participant, she is working outdoors in a rural area, cultivating apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (calculating the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the apple’s DNA), and history (tracing the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces red juice

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice. Every one carries background narratives. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware 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 check the packaging and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be held to honor that particular glacier.

Elsewhere, up in another location, a creative will be presenting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a community dinner, cooked from organic, local produce. In another city, a participant is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to cover a cultural venue in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will provoke a feeling of duty from us all. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to represent an iconic figure. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor started after he faced multiple occurrences of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since spiralled to cover events shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its origin is 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 intention on the event day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and