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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his last major projects. Famed for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to oppose the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

And so the environmental art day was born, a day when artists across the country developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, Remember Nature did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its impact can still be seen in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. This is the reason she is reviving it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the key participants taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. All participants have produced imagery, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), science (discussing the apple’s DNA), and geography (tracing the backgrounds of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

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

“Several the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the environment and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

In London, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching an art institution on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been lost in the past decade. Each glacier will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using special pens. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a recitation will be held to honor that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as holding a shared meal, prepared with organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her environmental performance, in which local singers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to cover an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to tackle an iconic figure. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. The project began when he endured multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – 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 project on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says with regret.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and