To me this isn't a question as to whether or not video games in themselves are an art form. Instead it's whether or not a level designed in a prefabricated program can be considered an art form on the same foundation as painting, sculpting etc. and to me the answer is no. Even though you can partake in virtual sculpting and painting in the program it is still massively different then when doing it hands on.
When you paint something you have to have an idea of what you want. The majority of people create a sketch first and then put a light outline onto their canvas so that they know how everything will lay. You spend hours with the colors, shading, fine lines, tiny details, getting everything just right so that it looks like it took no time at all. Mistakes can be agonizing to correct. The same with sculpting - it takes hours of hands on work. Both of these mediums demand that you practice them and have background knowledge so that you can use them effectively.
But with a program that is set up to design levels already half of the work is already taken out. There is no foundation laying, no building up to what is considered the fun stuff. Players don't have to spend hours getting the code right - it's already done for them. That's what takes away the status of art from something like this. Regardless of how creative you are anyone who sits down can use it and create something functional out of it. Everything is laid out for you that you'll need. Anyone can sit down and with a little bit of fiddling and patience make something realitively impressive.
There may be a lot of highly creative people that work on level designing for LBP. If they are truly creative and artistic then they will become know by other work that they do. I mean think about it, what is more impressive to you: a level that designed with a program or one that was built from scratch that someone had to lovingly program? They are both beautiful, both run well, and both are fun - so the second one is going to be more impressive by the sheer amount of work that's gone into it.
Mind you I am not saying that anything created with a computer is not art. Far from it - in fact the website Digital Blasphemy is one of my all time favorites. I just have a problem with comparing work done from scratch with work that's already half completed from a program.
