Creatives Take a Stand Against the Planetary Crisis: Cultivating the Apple That Dropped on Isaac Newton's Head

In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Known for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, encouraging artists and creatives to resist the steady eradication of species. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, the project hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be seen in movements like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their work. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have produced imagery, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with the artist, she is working outdoors in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and geography (researching the journeys of how various cultivars came to the UK).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. They all have histories attached. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see their names and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been lost in recent years. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a performance will be performed to honor that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, a creative will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as holding a communal feast, made using regional food. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is streaming her musical project, in which local singers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to cover an art space in children’s artwork that express their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can stimulate a sense of responsibility from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and making sure that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the event he is intending to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. That ongoing series commenced following he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and