Why Do They Leave Their Socks On?

Is porn art?

Background: Flipping through the HBO channels I come across Thinking XXX, a film by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders about shooting portraits for his book XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits.

One of the subjects, Sean Michaels, likened his work to art. My first reaction was, what the fuck? They get paid to fuck. How is that art?

Mr. Michaels said his work was an expression of the art of fucking. Made me think...

Porn Stars get paid to fuck on film. Actors get paid to act on film. (I won't make this distinction between art and entertainment in this post, though it could be valid)

Porn Stars get paid for their pornographic still shots. Models get paid for their photographs.

Porn Stars film soft-core scenes of simulated sex. Actors simulate sex scenes in movies all the time.

These are just some parallels that I've come up with off the top of my head. Though that also brings to mind the actors are like prostitutes, we are paid to perform.

Art & Sex have always crossed paths. Artists push the boundaries. Was the Marquis de Sade's work smut or literature?

What is the link between sex & art? Can sex be art? When does sex cross that line where it is no longer art?