🔗 Share this article

During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his last important works. Known for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing global challenges from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to resist the continuing disappearance of species. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – don’t delay. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, the project did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its impact can still be seen in initiatives like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. For this purpose she is reviving it to mark its decade milestone. Included in the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and produced installations set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), science (studying the apple’s DNA), and history (tracing 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 red juice

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will involve participants exploring an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in recent years. All formations will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. When located, a chime will sound and a recitation will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be presenting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to decorate a cultural venue in youth creations that express their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. This endeavor commenced following he endured multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the events and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and