Named after the small red sticker that once guided scholars through legacy 35mm slides, The Red Dot is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of visual and material research. While rooted in the University of California, Santa Barbara community, our posts are open to all.
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.
Here, we’ll share insights on Digital Art History and Architectural History, highlight new image and data resources, discuss copyright and ethical considerations, and spotlight events that shape our field.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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3D printing to produce … a house?
Red Dot does not pretend to understand how 3D printers work, although we’re trying hard. It’s just all so sci-fi. Using this additive process, designers have figured out ways to apply the technology to clothing and jewelry design, industrial design, medical and dental devices, and much more. You can see many applications, from simple to… Read more
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Thinglink – a new way to make images interactive
Thinglink is a new tool that lets you add multiple interactive elements to an image or page. It could be very useful, for example, in linking websites, photos or events to a map (click the map below for an example). It is used a lot in filmmaking and advertising, but has potential in educational… Read more
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The ABC of Architects
Enjoy! [vimeo http://vimeo.com/56974716] hat tip to archdaily Read more
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A digital collection highlighting Schinkel’s creativity
The Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz now hosts an online catalogue of their significant collection of drawings, watercolors, gouaches and prints by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). The project, Das Erbe Schinkels (Schinkel’s Legacy) contains almost 6,500 entries. Users can search either in English or German, including Iconclass and bibliography keywords. The project, developed… Read more
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Santa Croce main chapel restoration digitally documented
The Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence announced the reopening of its main chapel with the completion of its extensive restoration. If you find yourself in Florence within the next year, the scaffolding used for the restoration remains and visitors can have a rare opportunity to see upper registers up close. However, even those of… Read more
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Popol Vuh (Wuj) Online
The Ohio State University Libraries has published an online edition of the Popol Vol (Wuj) from the Newberry Library in Chicago. The manuscript (sometimes translated as Book of the Community) is the creation account of the Quiché (K’iche’) Mayan people — their stories of the cosmologies, origins, traditions, and spiritual history. According to the Newberry,… Read more