Cultural Figures Respond Against the Environmental Crisis: Sowing the Apple That Fell on Newton's Head

In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Famed for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from peace activism to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to oppose the steady eradication of species. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore territories that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be felt in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their work. This is the reason she is reviving it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the 18 lead artists involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. They have all produced imagery, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about measurements (measuring out the planting intervals), biology (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the stories of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. Each has stories behind them. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

In London, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees looking through Tate Modern on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in the past decade. Each glacier will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a reading will be held to honor that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, a creative will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that document their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

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 dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is aiming to address 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. The project began when he faced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and