Artists Take a Stand Against the Planetary Crisis: Cultivating the Apple That Fell on Newton's Head

During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last major projects. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, urging artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

Thus the environmental art day was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his drive for action. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. No need to pause for funding or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, Remember Nature hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its legacy can still be seen in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their practices. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. They have all designed posters, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (measuring out the planting intervals), genetics (discussing the apple’s DNA), and origins (researching the journeys of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

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

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. They all have background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see their names and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Throughout Britain

At the capital, one artist’s Book of Loss will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a journey to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be drawn on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a chime will sound and a recitation will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in a northern town, a creative will be putting on a open display about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a communal feast, prepared with regional food. In another city, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and it may stimulate a awareness of obligation from each person. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and making sure that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for the event he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series commenced following he experienced three incidents of discrimination on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since spiralled to cover events experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the incidents and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and