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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his final major projects. Famed for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing societal issues from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a international event to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, inviting makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore territories that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was established, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his final years, recalls his sense of urgency. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be seen in initiatives like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their work. For this purpose she is restaging it to mark its ten-year mark. Among the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (spacing the gaps in the orchard), science (studying the hereditary traits), and geography (researching the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

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

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see the variety and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

In London, a participant’s Book of Loss will engage visitors searching an art institution on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated 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 honor that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using organic, local produce. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to decorate an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are powerful 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 truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a sense of responsibility from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. The project began when he experienced several events of prejudice on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

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

The intention on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the itinerant journey about the events and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and