Cultural Figures Take a Stand Against the Planetary Crisis: Cultivating the Fruit That Fell on Newton's Head

Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his last significant endeavors. Famed for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to human struggles from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a international event to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, encouraging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of species. “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 fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his later life, recalls his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its influence can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their practices. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Included in the featured creators involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing the artist, she is out in a field in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), biology (studying the genetic makeup), and origins (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

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

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. They all have stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, on their next shopping trip, to read the label and see what they’re called and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in modern times. All formations will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. When located, a alert will occur and a reading will be performed to honor that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in another location, a creative will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using organic, local produce. Further north, an artist is sharing her environmental performance, in which local singers undertake a task to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to decorate a cultural venue in youth creations that document their dreams and worries for the future. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can provoke a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project began when he faced several events of discrimination on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to place blooms at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and