The Red Dot takes its name from the small sticker that once marked slides in a physical archive, flagging them as worth a second look. We’re keeping that spirit alive here.
At MIRL, we engage with art history, digital humanities, and material culture through hands-on research and archival projects. Guided by our core principles—critical engagement with visual and material culture, ethical stewardship of images and data, and innovative approaches to research and pedagogy—we work at the intersection of technology and the humanities. We are especially interested in how digital tools can expand the study of images, objects, and spaces.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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Artists postpone Rose Art Museum exhibition
Three artists — Bill Viola, April Gornik and Eric Fischl — have “postponed” their September exhibition Atmospheric Conditions at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University until the school’s administrators sign a legally-binding agreement to preserve the museum’s permanent collection. via The Boston Globe For previous posts on this developing story, click here and here. Note… Read more
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A new look at the Mourners from the Court of Burgundy
They will be coming to a town near you, but in the meantime check out The Mourners Photography Project website, hosted by FRAME (French Regional & American Museum Exchange). The website offers new digital high-resolution, 360° multi-perspective, and stereo 3D (anaglyph glasses required) views of the alabaster sculptures of monks and clerics that surround the… Read more
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Participate in visual literacy competency standards
The ACRL IRIG (Association of College & Research Libraries Image Resources Interest Group) Visual Literacy Standards Task Force is working on Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. To foster discussion about visual literacy, the Task Force has started a blog as a communication tool to provide information about the standards development process and progress… Read more
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Ship found buried at World Trade Center site
Construction workers at the World Trade Center have uncovered the remains of a ship buried in the site’s mud. The vessel, whose hull measures roughly 32 feet, appears to be from the 18th century but archeologists plan to study the ship and an anchor found nearby to determine its age and place of origin. Both… Read more
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“Forbidden Art” curators found guilty
Two Russian curators have been found guilty of “inciting hatred” with their 2007 contemporary art exhibition Forbidden Art — 2006. The exhibition had angered the Russian Orthodox Church, which condemned several works that depicted Jesus Christ in non-traditional ways and supported the charges against the curators. This in turn worried artists, who countered with a… Read more
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Photographers’ portfolios online at Photography Now
Photography Now is a website that offers high-quality portfolios of contemporary and “master” photographers. The photographs are displayed via Flash in a page-turning format. The image quality is very good, but there are unfortunately no captions or other information with the images, nor are the images downloadable. Still, it’s a very nice way to peruse… Read more