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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last important works. Known for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to stand against the steady eradication of species. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the project may not have incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the featured creators involved this time are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with the artist, she is working outdoors in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), science (exploring the apple’s DNA), and origins (tracing the journeys of how different apples were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases red juice

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. They all have background narratives. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, 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. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will involve participants searching an art institution on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. Each glacier will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using special pens. When located, a chime will sound and a recitation will be performed to remember that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, a creative will be presenting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to fill a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that document their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are compelling 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 hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to address an iconic figure. He is also organizing 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 experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to cover events reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and