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

In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his last important works. Known for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to oppose the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, 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 observed in campaigns like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is relaunching it to mark its decade milestone. Included in the key participants participating now are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. All participants have created visual art, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

Interviewing one participant, she is working outdoors in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), science (studying the apple’s DNA), and geography (tracing the stories of how different apples arrived in Britain).

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

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Each has background narratives. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

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

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will engage visitors exploring Tate Modern on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been lost in modern times. Each glacier will be drawn on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. When located, a chime will sound and a performance will be held to commemorate that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as holding a shared meal, made using regional food. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to decorate an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about positivity and making sure that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. That ongoing series commenced following he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Apparently birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the itinerant journey about the events and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and