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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final major projects. Famed for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he requested support for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of species. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

In this way the environmental art day was born, a day when artists across the country developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative may not have incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its impact can still be felt in initiatives like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Part of the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and other notable figures. All participants have created visual art, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing one participant, she is on site in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), genetics (discussing the genetic makeup), and origins (researching the stories of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see their names and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

In London, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will involve participants exploring an art institution on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a recitation will be held to commemorate that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, a creative will be putting on a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a shared meal, prepared with organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her environmental performance, in which local singers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may stimulate a sense of responsibility from us all. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is intending to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. The project began when he faced three incidents of discrimination on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and photograph it – the project has since grown to cover events shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and