Achieving simplicity in code is an art.

As a society, we can build buildings like regular old boxes, so long as it meets our needs for sheltering capacity. We don't do it this way because we've come to appreciate the ability of architects to create a more elegant building (elegant in cost, design, environmental effect).

Most of the programming we do is just building big blocky buildings that most will never see. If we were to spend the time and make it more elegant, we'd only be doing it for ourselves and other programmers, as we are the only ones that can appreciate it for the time being. Trying to simplify code is an art simply because it's unnecessary, but when it's actually achieved, yields some form of value to those that can appreciate it.