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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last important works. Known for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting global challenges from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he stated, inviting makers and thinkers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

Thus the environmental art day came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his drive for action. “I sensed 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 funding or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the project may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in movements like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have created visual art, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about maths (measuring out the distances between trees), genetics (studying the genetic makeup), and origins (researching the backgrounds of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases red juice

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. Every one carries background narratives. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will involve participants looking through an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been lost in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a reading will be conducted to honor that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be hosting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a communal feast, cooked from regional food. In another city, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that express their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can provoke a feeling of duty from everyone. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to tackle a local symbol. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. That ongoing series began when he faced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and