Star Dot Star is a collection of 20th-century glyph-based art and design. Think typewriter art, teleprinter / RTTY art, ASCII, and concrete poetry. Reflecting various technological advancements and cultural contexts, these genres share a common lineage we can trace back at least to the calligrams found in the 9th century Aratea.

For context, we also have some mid-century embroidery pattern designs, newspapers from the late 1800s, and hand-drawn works. There is no real organizing principle to this set; items are selected based on some mix of being aesthetically interesting, available, and relatively affordable.

There are roughly 100 items in this archive including books, records, magazines, and original artworks. Email to set up a viewing.

OPEN is partnering with RISD’s Fleet Library and the Providence Public Library’s Special Collections department to present an exhibition in fall 2026.