Tathos, Tomgos, Passion and Detachment, finding a balance in my 2nd year

 It's been a while since Tathos and Tomgos have staged a takeover of this blog, but they remain useful tools - they serve a bunch of uses so far:

• As ways to think of the type of thinking I want to develop more (Tathos) vs my old approach to problem solving (Tomgos)
• Of ways to deliberately approach problems from different points of view - what would Tathos say? What would Tomgos say? What would Tathos say that Tomgos would say? Trying to characterise their characterisation of each other is an interesting piece of mental gymnastics that is made much easier by personifying them!
• They create distance that allows me to say things more easily than I can say them in my own voice, especially when it allows me to say things I don't necessarily believe
• They are a small venture into the idea of projecting art through a lens - a person, a story, an object

So far I have tended to think of them in quite 'classical' terms - their names are parodies of the greek ideas of pathos and logos. In that way, they typical represent 'Emotional-led Tom' and 'Logic-led Tom'. 

However, I was reflecting recently on 'passion' and 'detachment' in my practice, by which I broadly mean:

• "Passion": My tendency to make art that is driven by feelings, and that is characterised by direct experience. This mode is visceral, honest, direct.
• "Detachment": My tendency to make art that is driven by logic, and that is characterised by reflection and generalisation. This mode is cool, rich, nuanced.

It struck me that these ideas map quite well to Tathos and Tomgos. 

I think a lot of my work pre-MA was a more detached style - it was restrained and understated and dealt with broad human experiences. Carolyn's death and the 1st year of the MA drove me to reject a lot of the logic (and identity) of my old life, and my work took on a more 'passionate' style marked though by some chaos and violence. 

Recently I have been trying to let Tathos (passion) lead, and Tomgos (detachment) guide. I think this is starting to yield some good results. I think for my second year I want to work on getting this balance right. I think it HAS to be a balance - I think the current approach is a good one, but I want to apply this new-found understanding (or perceived understanding!) more deliberately. I want to try to apply it through the entire process of art making. I need both the passion for the authenticity and the detachment for the depth.

My taste in general is towards detachment, I love things that are understated, especially when describing potentially terrible things. I want to use passion to fuel my creativity, but detachment to curate it. I want to do more with less. I also want to apply the principle that the art is in squeezing the nut - it's not about creating a 'puzzle', it's about creating something closer to a zen koan - a puzzle that cannot be solved, but which can act as source for reflection, contemplation, a generator of questions and insights, not answers. A nut that can be squeezed hard but which will not break!