🔗 Share this article

During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final major projects. Famed for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing societal issues from peace activism to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, urging cultural workers to stand against the steady eradication of species. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

Thus Remember Nature came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “There was a profound 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. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its influence can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its decade milestone. Among the key participants involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), science (studying the hereditary traits), and geography (tracing 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 Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces scarcolored sap

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

In London, a participant’s work about extinction will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been lost in recent years. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a reading will be performed to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using organic, local produce. Further north, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and it may inspire a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to tackle an iconic figure. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. This endeavor started after he endured multiple occurrences of discrimination on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from 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 project on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the events and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and