I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I guess I am specifically talking about maps specifically designed in Forge.
Yeah I think so, at least to me it is. Art is really subjective though. What art is to me is not art to others.
I guess that's true. I kind of see it like a puzzle, like I see all things I consider art. You have all of these pieces and you're trying to make them fit in the best way possible.
The point of most art is to trigger an emotional response, and I think that applies to maps. You know why I love tron? It reminds me of Halo 1 and that makes me happy.
The point of art is to make someone feel something, a form of expression the creates and experience for another. Forge maps help us experience getting shot at, feeling rage, and expressing ourselves with swearing. Art.
I've seen some Forge maps that were true works of art. I try to invoke the "oooh, pretty!" response when I get the time to make maps myself (shameless plug to go back and look at my Halo Reach file share). There is an art to making maps flow correctly, an art to making a map that feels like you are somewhere else then the map it's forged on, an art to making it gorgeous...and an art to making it all of the above.