Extinguished Gentleman.
Water cools and smothers the fire at the same time. It cools it so much that it can’t burn anymore, and it smothers it so that it can’t make any more of the oxygen in the air explode.
You can also put out a fire by smothering it with dirt, sand, or any other covering that cuts the fire off from its oxygen source.
“Fire is neither good nor bad; it is both damaging and creative”
- Stephanie Peters
In 2016, 488 million people were exposed to the risks of working long hours.
In all, more than 745,000 people died that year from overwork that resulted in stroke and heart disease, according to the WHO (Chappell 2021).
Burnout.
Photography: Graham Willis.Model: Kye.All right reserved: Tasman Banks. ®In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a mythical bird that lives for 500 years. Every hundred or so years he burns himself to death in his nest. But each time the Phoenix resurrects and rises from the ashes of its ancestor. This is symbolic of a person that is burnt out, after a long while the person can start a fresh and find a different source of creativity, that gives them power to rise from the flames.
The Phoenix.
Spontaneous Combustion.
“The burning smell is there – and the soot is there, and the oil is there – and he is not there!” – a protagonist reported, after finding Kook’s remnants. “There is a very little fire left in the grate, but there is a smouldering, suffocating vapour in the room and a dark, greasy coating on the walls and ceiling. The chairs and table, and the bottle so rarely absent from the table, all stand as usual. On one chair-back hang the old man’s hairy cap and coat.”
- Bleack House, Charles Dickens
Those who come across spontaneous human combustion (or the illusion of it) can sense that something strange has happened, something paranormal. Even if it belongs to the imaginary or metaphorical realm, which is the mood evoked in Extinguished Gentleman.