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Art is nothing if not formal, that is, endowed with structure by the artist. [BTW this is absolutely not true. Formalism is one, among many, ways of understanding what art is. Formalism has; however, failed to give an adequate account of objects which fall outside the extension of the term ‘formal’ but no one can deny that they fall within the extension of the term ‘artwork’.] But structure itself implies meaning. [No it doesn’t. If the universe is here by random means alone it has no meaning, BUT who can deny that randomness creates structure?] So to the extent that an art work has structure, it has meaning and thus it is not nihilistic. [Sire needs a crash course in aesthetics here. Duchamp, Arp, and others were some of the first to deal with the idea of randomness and chance in their work and whatever meaning their works have it is not to be located in their structure. Meaning IS essential to a work of art and that meaning must be embodied in some why in materials but the structure of those materials only plays a role in SOME not all works of art.] Even Beckett’s Breath has structure. A junk yard, the garbage in a trash heap, a pile of rocks just blasted from a quarry have no structure. [Is this even true? If Beckett’s Breath has structure certainly these do as well.] They are not art. [I can’t tell you how many artworks I’ve seen that have been nothing more than ‘a junk yard, the garbage in a trash heap, a pile of rocks just blasted from a quarry.’ If these works are not indeed art then what are they? Sire fails to understand that ANYTHING can be a work of art, even the performance of blasting rocks from a quarry.]

“The Universe Next Door” IVP page 92

later on he makes equally laughable suggestions that the madness of Nietzsche and the suicide of Hemmingway had to do with their unchristian world-views. Never mind that Nietzsche’s father also went mad a week before his death, never mind that Hemmingway was having problems coming up with another book or that his daughter two suffered from a genetic form of depression. And above all don’t read Qoheleth, because if you do you may decide that even canonical authors can be suicidal!

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