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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, inviting makers and thinkers to oppose the steady eradication of species. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day came into being, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his later life, recalls his drive for action. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their methods. That’s why she is restaging it to celebrate its decade milestone. Included in the key participants taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. All participants have created visual art, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about mathematics (spacing the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the apple’s DNA), and geography (researching the backgrounds of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. Each has histories attached. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see the variety and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Throughout Britain

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been vanished in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. When located, a bell will ring and a performance will be performed to honor that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be putting on a public show about our separation from nature, as well as holding a community dinner, prepared with regional food. Further north, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Like Gallaccio, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that express their hopes and fears for the future. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and perhaps it can provoke a awareness of obligation from each person. Kids are unbiased. 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.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the event he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. The project began when he experienced several events of prejudice on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since grown to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to plant pansies at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and