Can string be called art?

I have every sympathy with Mike Russell writing in today's The Herald on contemporary art.
He says:
"It may be that the visual arts are simply going through a period of profound change, and that eventually we will see our world more clearly as a result.
"Or it may be that there are a lot of creative lemmings around, charging up artistic cul-de-sacs while demanding that the rest of us follow them to the future."

As a fairly recent graduate who came into this scene late after a lifetime in journalism I know how he feels.
Well, I recall one student in art history asking a very distinguished art historian this question;
"How come something bought in a junk shop and displayed in an art gallery suddenly becomes a work of art?"
She replied:
"It's art if you say it is art."
So there.