Tag Archives: chaos

Order and chaos portrayed in South London’s Peckham

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THE ARTIST LEONARDO Drew was born in 1961 at Tallahassee, Florida (USA), and now works in Brooklyn (New York City). Until 7 September 2025, an entire, large room at the South London Gallery in Peckham is occupied by a work by Drew, which has the name “Ubiquity II”.

At first sight, the viewer is confronted by what looks like the chaotic result of a big explosion. The room is filled with fragments of wood, some of which is piled in heaps leaning against the walls, and the rest scattered on the floor, on which visitors tread. On closer examination, it can be seen that there are fragments of mirrors amongst the debris, and almost every piece of wood has paint or some other modification on it.

Despite looking like disorganised chaos, it is not. The artist carefully selected each of the fragments, modified them (often with paint), and then carefully arranged them to produce what the viewer sees. He has created the depiction of chaos and destruction in a most careful orderly way. As the gallery’s website put it, Drew:

“… creates reflective abstract pieces that play on the tension between order and chaos. Transforming and eroding materials by hand in the studio, he explores the cyclical nature of life and decay.”

And given what is happening in the world today, this powerful depiction of order and chaos is particularly relevant.

Tulips and traffic

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When I was a young child, probably less than ten years old, we made one of our regular family holidays to Holland. My parents, having studied Afrikaans to varying degrees of competence, felt easier visiting a country like Holland where the native language, Dutch, was not too exotic for someone to comprehend with a knowledge of Afrikaans.

One Saturday afternoon, my parents decided to take us to see the tulips at Keukenhof gardens. I cannot recall anything about the flowers.

However, I do not think I will ever forget the car park at Keukenhof. We had parked our car early in the afternoon when the parking area was fairly empty. When we came to leave, the car park was very full.

Everyone wanted to leave at the same time. A disorderly tsunami of vehicles converged on the exit gates. Nobody seemed to be regulating the traffic. It took us well over an hour to escape from the motorised mayhem.

Sadly, I associate Keukenhof with traffic rather than tulips, and although I love tulips, seeing them often brings Keukenhof to mind.

Animal rights

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Driving in India may seem somewhat chaotic to visitors from northern Europe including the UK. It might seem less so to visitors from the southern parts of Europe or from Egypt. However, there is some order in the apparent mayhem that can often be observed on Indian roads.

One unwritten rule is that it is advisable to give way to something bigger than you. If you are driving a car, it is best to yield to a lorry or a bus. If a cow or bullock or even an elephant wanders into your path, it is best to avoid it. If you collide with a large beast, your vehicle might suffer greater injury than the beast. Best to give the creature the right of way.

If you should happen to be an autorickshaw (‘tuk tuk’) driver, you are likely to have superbly fast reflexes, the courage of a lion, and nerves of steel. Drivers of these vehicles take risks on the road that sometimes seem suicidal, but overehelmingly they know what they are doing.

One autorickshaw driver in Bangalore once told me that he had been a truck driver before taking up his present occupation. He said that to drive an autorickshaw it was necessary to employ all of the senses. He said that his whole body had to be fully aware of what is going on around him.

However, even the skilfully adventurous autorickshaw drivers will give way to, or avoid cattle in the street. This is not because they hold the cow to be sacred nor because they are believers in animal rights, but because they have a sensible regard for self-preservation.