hey matt
im not going to get into a discussion about what is or what is not art, but i do have personal experience with this - there are alot of very talented ppl who are insulted if called "artist" because the definition of "art" and "artist" as loose, - and usually ever more open ended - than what you defined them as in your post here. i can appreciate your idealism....but......if a photagrapher decides that he/she should be labeled with the same descript as the artist who created the ceiling of the sistine chapel, then there is something wrong there.
if throwing elephant poo on an existing picture of the virgin mary is art, and if the guy who performed the monkey-like task of flinging said poo onto a picture he had no part in creating is called an artist, count me out man.
fast eddie outty