“I’m positive, that what you do yourself, just the little things you do yourself, these are the things that count.”

Buckminster Fuller

Join us on Friday, November 18th, at 10:00 AM Pacific for a discussion with UK artist Jake Lever about his use of the Dymaxion Map as part of “Do the Little Things,” a global participatory project he designed during the pandemic. This uplifting project is a demonstration of creativity serving the need for human contact during the pandemic, and the unexpected cross-over with Fuller’s work even beyond the Dymaxion map itself.

More About “Do the Little Things”

During the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, from November 2020 to the end of 2021, I made tiny boats from wire, tissue paper and gold leaf. I sent them to family and friends as tokens of love and affection when face to face meetings were difficult, or impossible. Inspired by St David who, in 589 AD, urged his followers to “be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things”, they formed a kind of silent, wordless communication, from heart to heart. Many others participated in the project, ordering boats from me and sending them by post to their families and friends. In all, 350 boats were sent around the UK and to destinations across the world, from San Francisco to Santiago, Manhattan to Myanmar. For many these boats signified safe passage in times of transition, both traumatic (deaths, relationship breakups and losses of different kinds) and joyful (births, setting up new homes and new relationships). They were sent as golden parcels of love and solidarity when people were unable to physically connect, celebrate or console each other. An installation of boats was created for the Chapel of Gethsemane at Coventry Cathedral in May 2021, from which one was acquired for the permanent collection of the British Museum.

Visit the blog on BFI.org for more background on this project.

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