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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Get out your metal detectors!
A lucky person with a metal detector uncovered a Roman helmet last year, which is now going up for auction at Christie’s (on Oct. 7). It’s expected to fetch between $315,000 and $470,000. It is one of only three of its caliber and design (with complete face masks) ever discovered in England. It was found… Read more
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Uffizi masterpieces in high resolution
An Italian company, Haltadefinizione, has created what they call “real high resolution” reproductions of six famous paintings from the Florentine museum. If you’re wondering just how high resolution these are, the company photographed the six paintings at 3 to 20 billion pixels (yes, billion). However, while their tagline reads “If you can’t come to them,… Read more
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Resnick Pavilion opens at LACMA
The Renzo Piano-designed pavilion at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will open to the public on October 2. Funded mainly from a $45 million gift from the philanthropists Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the 45,000 square foot space opens with three exhibitions: 1. Sculptures and vessels from Mesoamerican antiquity; 2. Two hundred years of… Read more
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Fisk University and Georgia O’Keeffe, continued
We mentioned last week that Fisk University in Nashville, in trying to alleviate financial woes, is attempting to use its Stieglitz Collection in revenue-generating ventures. In response, Fisk alumni and students are planning an on-campus vigil this evening to protest any removal of the Collection from university grounds. Meanwhile, the University is protesting a proposal… Read more
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Explaining and exploring photographic processes
If students are having a hard time distinguishing their autochrome from their photogram, here are three fantastic on-line resources that offer definitions and examples of photographic processes: Historic Photographs, from the British Library, is an on-line gallery tour of photography “in its formative years.” Exploring Photography, from the Victoria & Albert Museum, has a series… Read more