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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LACMA overhaul revived
An overhaul of the LA County Museum of Art complex is again on the table. After the failure to get a 2/3 majority vote on a 2002 bond measure that would have paid for a Rem Koolhaus re-design, dreams of a vast renovation were put on hold. But now the LACMA board is working with… Read more
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Former MMA director Thomas Hoving has died
Thomas Hoving, the former director (1967-77) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has died. He transformed the museum by, among other things, introducing the “blockbuster” show. The King Tut exhibit was the first of such shows, now a staple in museum exhibition calendars. Mr. Hoving was only 35 when he took over as the director… Read more
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UCSB’s ARTstor contribution of African field slides
We’re getting closer to realizing our first big contribution to ARTstor – “Herbert Cole: African Art, Architecture, and Culture (University of California, Santa Barbara)”. Visual Resources Collection staff have worked with ARTstor to contribute 1,026 images from “Skip” Cole’s field research in the 1960s and 70s in Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. … Read more
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OIV now compatible with Mac Snow Leopard
ARTstor announced they have fixed the OIV compatibility issue with Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard). For more information and download instructions, click here. Note: ARTstor recommends deleting any previous installation of OIV you have on your computer first (to do this, simply drag the existing OIV icon from your Applications folder to the trash, then… Read more
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Richard Ross Photography Collection Part II now in MDID
The second phase of Richard Ross’ photography is now available through the VRC image database, MDID. This includes material from his books/projects “Man Up”, “Waiting for the End of the World” and “Suitable Placement: Juvenile Justice in America”. This brings the total to 481 images. You can read more about Richard and his work at… Read more