Creatives Fight Back In the Face of the Planetary Crisis: Planting the Apple That Dropped on Newton's Head

Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting global challenges from peace activism to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, inviting artists and creatives to oppose the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the environmental art day was born, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his later life, remembers his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be observed in campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. For this purpose she is restaging it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Part of the featured creators taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. They have all created visual art, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about maths (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), genetics (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. They all have background narratives. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

In London, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a mission to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a chime will sound and a performance will be performed to honor that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, an artist will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a communal feast, prepared with organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Young Insights

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may stimulate a sense of responsibility from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about anxiety – 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 avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. That ongoing series started after he endured several events of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the obvious reason – 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 terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the incidents and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and