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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his last major projects. Famed for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing human struggles from peace activism to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, encouraging artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our task is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

In this way Remember Nature came into being, a day when artists across the country developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his final years, remembers his drive for action. “He had a profound 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 financial support or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, the project may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have created visual art, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing the artist, she is out in a field in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), science (studying the apple’s DNA), and geography (tracing the backgrounds of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. They all have background narratives. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will involve participants searching Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been lost in recent years. Each glacier will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a recitation will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be presenting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a community dinner, cooked from organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her musical project, in which community vocalists begin a project to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to fill an art space in youth creations that document their dreams and worries for the future. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is planning to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series started after he endured several events of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and