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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New aerial September 11 photos released
Aerial photos of the September 11 attack on New York were released, as reported in the LA Times: “The images were taken from a police helicopter — the only photographers allowed in the airspace near the skyscrapers on Sept. 11, 2001. They were obtained by ABC after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request… Read more
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Eichler houses in LA get preservation status
The LA City Council has granted preservation status to a tract of mid-century Eichler houses in Granada Hills according to the LA Times. You can see a gallery of photos here, and read more about the Eichler homes here. Read more
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Architecture and Design Collection acquires Rex Lotery archive
UCSB’s ADC, known for its archival holdings of Southern California-based architects, recently celebrated a new acquisition: the archive of architect Rex Lotery (1930-2007). The archive contains objects from Lotery as well as from the firm Kahn, Kappe, Lotery & Boccato. Architectural historian and guest curator Nicholas Olsberg announced that selections from the archive will be… Read more
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Magnum Photos archive moves to Texas
The Magnum Photos library of more than 180,000 press prints, recently purchased by Michael S. Dell (of Dell Inc.), has moved from New York City to its new home at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin. The sale of the archive will help fund to scan the archive digitally and the move to the Ransom… Read more
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MMA Archives: “Museum Exhibitions 1870-2010”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the Thomas J. Watson Library, has announced a new exhibition history resource: a chronological list (PDF) of all special exhibitions held at the Museum from its founding in 1870 to the present. Please note that this is a working document that will be updated periodically. If you have any… Read more
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John Constable’s real Stour Valley
The Guardian is reporting that a UK National Trust land agent has traced the actual location for John Constable’s painting Stour Valley and Dedham Church. The agent, speaking here in this brief video, compares the group of trees on the right side of the painting to those in the valley. Read more