1. Murder resulting from notions of superiority
Row 1 - Friedrich Nietzsche postulated his concept of a 'superman' or 'overman' (Übermensch) in his Also Sprach Zarathustra.
Row 2 - Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb, known as Leopold and Loeb, believed themselves to be Nietzschean Supermen who could commit a "perfect crime". They kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. Before the murder, Leopold had written to Loeb: "A superman ... is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do."
Row 3 - Still from the Alfred Hitchcock film 'Rope' where John Dall and Farley Granger kill a fellow student out of notions of superiority and also, to commit the perfect crime. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky has a principal protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov plots to kill a pawnbroker believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.
2. The Periodic Table
Column 1 - Solitaire, Octave on a keyboard and Pāṇini
Column 2 - Dmitri Mendeleev was inspired to create the Periodic Table from the three influences mentioned above. Solitaire provided the visual basis upon which he would construct his Periodic Table. The recurrence of properties for every eight elements (Periods) was an idea he borrowed from the John Newlands' Law of Octaves which in turn was inspired by the musical concept of Octaves. The structuring of elements was a tribute to Pāṇini's (Sanskrit Grammarian from Vedic times) work Ashtadhyayi (Eight Chapters), a treatise on Sanskrit Grammar.
3. Virtual Celebrity
Row 1 - William Gibson, the famous cyberpunk writer and the cover of his novel Idoru where he theorizes the concept of a virtual celebrity or idol. The book's narrative, set in a dystopian future, features a rockstar Rez who expresses interest in marrying a synthetic personality named Rei Toei.
Row 2 - nVidia and model Adrianne Curry have teamed up to create the world's first real-time, virtual celebrity.
Row 3 - Adrianne Curry's likeness used to generate the virtual celebrity.
