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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final important works. Recognized for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, notes his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its legacy can still be felt in initiatives like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their practices. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the key participants participating now are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. They have all designed posters, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing the artist, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (studying the genetic makeup), and history (tracing the backgrounds of how different apples came to the UK).

A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice. Each has stories behind them. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will involve participants exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in recent years. Each glacier will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be performed to honor that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in another location, a creative will be putting on a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as holding a shared meal, prepared with sustainable ingredients. In another city, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to cover an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and it may provoke a feeling of duty from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for the event he is aiming to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. This endeavor commenced following he endured several events of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph 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 short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to sow flowers 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 incidents and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and