Creatives Respond In the Face of the Climate Emergency: Sowing the Fruit That Dropped on Newton's Head

In 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final major projects. Known for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, encouraging artists and creatives to resist the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

In this way Remember Nature was established, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, remembers his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the project did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in campaigns like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Included in the featured creators involved this time are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have created visual art, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be unveiled on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing the artist, she is on site in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), biology (studying the genetic makeup), and history (mapping the backgrounds of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

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

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and their origin. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

In London, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching Tate Modern on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in modern times. Each glacier will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. When located, a alert will occur and a reading will be held to honor that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a community dinner, cooked from organic, local produce. Further north, an artist is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that document their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will inspire a feeling of duty from each person. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is aiming to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project began when he faced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to cover events shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

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

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, 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 mournfully.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and