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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Famed for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to stand against the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our task is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, notes his sense of urgency. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its legacy can still be observed in campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their practices. That’s why she is restaging it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and other notable figures. All participants have created visual art, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

Interviewing the artist, she is working outdoors in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will create a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about maths (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (discussing the apple’s DNA), and geography (researching the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see the variety and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

In London, one artist’s project on disappearance will engage visitors exploring Tate Modern on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a performance will be performed to remember that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be presenting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a shared meal, prepared with sustainable ingredients. In another city, a participant is sharing her environmental performance, in which regional performers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that express their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “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 truly special and it may provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is planning to address an iconic figure. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor commenced following he experienced several events of prejudice on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since expanded to cover events shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to plant pansies at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and