Cultural Figures Respond In the Face of the Climate Emergency: Planting the Fruit That Dropped on Newton's Head

During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his last important works. Recognized for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, inviting cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our task is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, notes his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, the initiative hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in initiatives like Culture Declares and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to commemorate its decade milestone. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has produced imagery, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (studying the genetic makeup), and history (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Each has stories behind them. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see what they’re called and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will involve participants looking through Tate Modern on a journey to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a performance will be held to honor that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as holding a community dinner, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Further north, an artist is streaming her environmental performance, in which community vocalists begin a project to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that express their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may inspire a feeling of duty from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences experienced 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 ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on the event day is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and