Different

DEFINITION

Not the same, various, diverse (diversity). One of modernism's most pervasive characteristics is its embrace of what's new. While postmodernism's expectations of newness are not as intense, difference remains an attribute we crave. Nevertheless, one of the most shallowly used terms used in art criticism, "different" is too often the only reaction of a viewer who has discerned nothing else about a work than its variation from some norm. Faint praise.Quotes: "Vive la difference!" (Hooray for the difference!) French proverb. This saying is often cited in reference to the differences between the sexes, but surely it could be applied to differences of other sorts. "The most universal quality is diversity." Montaigne (1533-1592), French writer. "Of the resemblance of children to their fathers," Essays, 1580-1588. Before he became president of the USA, Abraham Lincoln took part in a series of political debates with a fellow named Douglas. In an obvious reference to the difference in height between Lincoln and Douglas (a much shorter man), a heckler asked, "Tell us, Mr. Lincoln, how long do you think a man's legs ought to be?" Lincoln replied, "Long enough to reach the ground." Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president (1861-1865) during America's Civil War; emancipator of slaves. "Think different." Slogan for a terrific Apple Computers advertising campaign in the 1980s and 1990s. Here are links to images of fourteen posters Apple distributed as part of that campaign: Mohammed Ali 1 and 2, Neil Armstrong on the Moon, Joan Baez, Maria Calas, Dalai Lama, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Jim Hensen, Alfred Hitchcock, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Pablo Picasso 1 and see thumbnail to right2. See advertising and poster. Also see change, choose, colorblind, compare, definition, eccentric, gender issues, interdisciplinary, letterform, multiculturalism, nuance, variation, variegated, variety, vary, xenophilia, and xenophobia.