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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Art|Architecture on Film series at UCSB
There’s a terrific series of films showing in the next couple of months at the new Pollock Theater on campus. The series is co-presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the Carsey-Wolf Center, and the Art, Design & Architecture Museum (formerly the UAM and ADC). The series kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 15 with The Universe… Read more
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The 30 million dollar punch
A visitor to the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver defaced a painting worth $30-40 million. It’s not clear what her motives were, but she punched, scratched, leaned on, and attempted to urinate on (!?) 1957-J-No. 2 , seen at left. Okay, she was drunk. In the middle of the afternoon. In a museum?? Via… Read more
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New Fair Use statement released
The Visual Resources Association has released a Statement on the Fair Use of Images in Teaching, Research, and Study. The statement recommends assertiveness on the part of the academic community, and awareness of the guidelines. It concludes that there are six uses of copyrighted still images that fall within the U.S. doctrine of fair use. … Read more
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Faculty publication #2: Ernst L. Freud, Architect, by Volker Welter
The second book to be launched in our department this month is Ernst L. Freud, Architect: The Case of the Modern Bourgeois Home, by Volker Welter, UCSB architectural historian. In addition to being a prolific architect, primarily domestic architecture, Freud was the son of Sigmund Freud. Congratulations, Prof. Welter! Read more
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Faculty publication #1: Making History, by Sylvester Ogbechie
Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Professor of Classical to Contemporary African Art here at UCSB, has just released Making History: African Collectors and the Canon of African Art, which explores the under-studied area of African-owned collections of African art. The image plates are stunning, plentiful, and of the highest quality. The volume is available in English and… Read more
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British Library launches online resource for historical newspapers
“Murder, mania and a leech-powered weather machine.” The British Library, in conjunction with online publisher brightsolid, has launched the British Newspaper Archive. This new and continually expanding online resource for perusing headlines, bylines and story lines from the past three centuries is now searchable for free. Users must pay, however, for complete access and printing… Read more