Can commercial art really be art?

Yes.

Now, let's go a little deeper. My pal, John Picacio, wrote a blog entry yesterday that discussed this question from the perspective of commercial illustration vs. fine art. He covered that area beautifully, so I won't repeat any of his comments here; just go read them. What I want to discuss is how this question applies to fiction.

Through the years of my on-again, off-again writing, I attended a lot of writing workshops, as well as a great many late-night, often drunken SF convention discussions about fiction. In both of those contexts, I've heard such bold declarations as the following:

Series can't really be art.

Military SF can't really be art.

TV shows can't really be art.

Fantasy with elves can't really be art.

SF adventure can't really be art.

And on and on.

No one person made all of these assertions, of course, and I believe that if anyone had challenged all but the most drunken issuers of these statements, the speaker would have admitted there were exceptions. The underlying sentiment, however, was clearly real and strongly held--often even if the speaker had not read any of the books in question or had not read any in a very long time.

Actually, one exception was always present, and it always took this form:

[type of fiction I dislike] can't really be art unless someone I respect is doing it, in which case it's a clever/post-modern/new/[your favorite critical adjective of the moment] re-examination of/dialog with this form, in which case of course it can be art

In case the real meaning here isn't clear, let me restate this sentiment in a more concise manner:

[type of fiction I dislike] can't really be art unless someone I respect is doing it

This attitude just pisses me off, as the illustration equivalent clearly did John. (You did read his post, right? If not, do it now; I'll wait.)

I am not trying to say all art is equal; it sure as hell is not. I'm also not trying to claim I have no prejudices or opinions (I do), or that I am appointing myself the keeper of the essence of art (I'm not).

What I am saying is that for every one of these blanket statements, one can point to counter-examples that many intelligent, well-educated readers consider art, and that consequently we would all do well to limit our sweeping declarations and allow each piece of fiction we choose to read to earn or fail to earn its status with us as art.