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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“Cities” the theme for 2013 ARTstor Travel Awards
Each year ARTstor sponsors travel awards that provide $1,500 in funds for recipients to visit and photograph a site. All UCSB instructors, students, and librarians are eligible, as UCSB is an ARTstor-subscribing institution. Read the application rules here – deadline for entries is May 17. Good luck! Read more
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UPDATE: ARTstor images now delivered via zip files
Last month we reported that ARTstor was working to eliminate the need for Java to download single images from the Digital Library. This went into effect yesterday. This change has advantages (no longer the need for seemingly-endless Java updates) and disadvantages (an extra step with your downloads and knowing how to unzip the file). Visit… Read more
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The “art” of reproduction
For those of you who use web searches extensively for your lectures or presentations, check out the post “The Art Of Reproduction” on the blog Visual Hint — the color of data: “Type “Danae Klimt” into your favorite search engine, and you conjure up a high-resolution image of Gustav Klimt’s Danaë: tan limbs, a shower… Read more
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ARTstor downloading change pending
ARTstor announced today that it will be eliminating the need for Java for image downloading, effective “in the near future”. Instead, individual image downloads will come packaged in a zip file with the HTML text file. The full announcement is here. We will post an update on exactly when this will take effect, and provide… Read more
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Test your knowledge: NASA or MOMA?
The Atlantic has posted 20 photos, some of paintings in the Museum of Modern Art, NY, and some taken from the International Space Station by photographer Chris Hadfield. See if you can figure out which is which (the answers are at the bottom). Read more
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A good reason to go to garage sales
You could find yourself $2.2 million richer. A family in New York just sold a bowl through auction at Sotheby’s for that amount. They bought the bowl at a garage sale in 2007 for $3. Yes, $3. Turns out it was rare “Ding ware” from the Song Dynasty, approximately 1,000 years old. So, keep your… Read more