Creatives Respond Against the Planetary Crisis: Cultivating the Apple That Fell on Newton's Head

During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate important works. Famed for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he requested support for a international event to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, inviting cultural workers to oppose the steady eradication of species. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

And so the environmental art day came into being, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his final years, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is restaging it to mark its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have designed posters, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), science (discussing the apple’s DNA), and origins (tracing the backgrounds of how different apples arrived in Britain).

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

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces crimson liquid. They all have stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Throughout Britain

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been vanished in recent years. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be performed to honor that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, an artist will be presenting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a communal feast, made using sustainable ingredients. In another city, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a sense of responsibility from each person. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the event he is intending to tackle a local symbol. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. The project started after he endured multiple occurrences of discrimination on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since grown 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 short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and