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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Berlin’s Free University launches “Degenerate Art” database
The “Degenerate Art” Research Center, Art History Institute at the Freie Universität Berlin now hosts a database that documents the fate of over 21,000 works of art deemed “Entartete Kunst” (Degenerate Art) and confiscated by the Nazis in 1937. The database is searchable by artist, title, object type, current repository and specific Nazi-era exhibitions. Many… Read more
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Art History and the movies
Several websites have compiled lists of films on art, or that feature art historical figures or themes. Here are just a few: The Ultimate Art History Guide to Cinema Art Historians’ Guide to the Movies Art History in the Movies Dr. Cheney’s Art History Films (includes links to video clips) A libris’ list of art… Read more
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Oakland Museum of CA “mixing it up”
After an extensive two-year renovation, the Oakland Museum of California will reopen its doors with a Weekend Celebration 1-2 May to show off the museum’s new, brighter galleries. They have also been redesigned so installations can be more conceptual — objects from history and natural science collections share spaces with works of art and design.… Read more
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Fallingwater in LEGO
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater has been replicated in LEGO blocks – 15,000 of them. It took the creator seven months to complete it. In other Wright-LEGO news, the LEGO company is introducing the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, which includes instructions for building six of his iconic designs. These won’t take seven months or 15,000 blocks,… Read more
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Bill Viola + USC Game Innovation Lab = The Night Journey
Video artist Bill Viola has teamed up with the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Media Division‘s Game Innovation Lab) to create an experimental video “game,” but not one with high-speed chases nor increasingly effective weaponry. The Night Journey “[is] a game that rewards you for slowing down and for introspection,” said Viola, who has… Read more
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New Sistine Chapel QTVR, courtesy of Villanova
For the last two years, students and faculty from Villanova University have had rare clearance to photograph a new state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Tour of the Sistine Chapel. The “tour”, a beautiful QTVR panorama with a classical music accompaniment, is on the Vatican website. Read more