🔗 Share this article

Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last important works. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he requested support for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

Thus Remember Nature came into being, a day when artists across the country developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, notes his feeling of immediacy. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its impact can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. For this purpose she is relaunching it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. They have all designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with one participant, she is on site in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the gaps in the orchard), science (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases red juice

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Every one carries histories attached. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see their names and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will engage visitors looking through Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been vanished in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. When located, a alert will occur and a performance will be held to remember that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be putting on a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. In another city, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which community vocalists undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can inspire a awareness of obligation from each person. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about optimism and making sure that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to address an iconic figure. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. That ongoing series began when he endured three incidents of prejudice on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since expanded to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The project on the event day is to plant pansies at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the events and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and