Material / Image Research Lab (MIRL)

The Red Dot

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 

  • Van Gogh’s letters now available online

    The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, in conjunction with the Huygens Institute, has digitized all 902 known letters written by and to Vincent van Gogh. You can do a keyword search as well as search by period, correspondent, place, or those with sketches. While you can view a scan of each letter, the site also… Read more

    ,

  • Photographer Irving Penn dies at 92

    Irving Penn,  who started as fashion photography contributor at Vogue in 1943 and successfully crossed over to art photography, has died.  A full obituary is here at the LA Times. The exhibition Irving Penn: Small Trades is on at the Getty Museum until January 10, 2010. Read more

  • Bluestonehenge, a sister site to Stonehenge, found

    Archaeologists in England have uncovered a site thought to be linked to the famous Stonehenge. This “little sister” henge, located just 2.8km away along the River Avon, was dubbed Bluestonehenge since it was originally constructed of 25 blue Preseli stones. It is believed this riverain connection marked a funerary processional route from Bluestonehenge toward Stonehenge.… Read more

  • “ART from the ashes” helping Santa Barbara

    ART from the ashes, an LA-based non-profit organization that creates art to help raise funds for communities devastated by fire, has set its sights on Santa Barbara. A new exhibition and art sale on October 10, to benefit the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, will showcase works of art made from materials gathered from the Garden… Read more

    , ,

  • World Columbian Exposition of 1893 – UCLA’s latest simulation project

    The Urban Simulation Team at UCLA is working on some really interesting projects that recreate environments at levels from satellite imagery to the finest details, and even video tours.  Their biggest project is Virtual LA, an attempt to recreate the entire Los Angeles area, which will have numerous uses for architects and urban planners.  Other… Read more

    ,

  • Additions to the VRC image database, part 3

    A lot of new material was added to MDID over the summer and in preparation for Fall courses.  Some of the new material includes: over 450 images of architecture (including plans and drawings), city plans and environmental installations from Asia, Europe and North America 100 images of early landscape photography 600 images of Chinese painting… Read more