MIRL (Material / Image Research Lab)

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 

  • Contemporary Arts Forum and the Aeolian Ride

    Santa Barbara’s Contemporary Arts Forum, along with the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and the Wheelhouse, is co-sponsoring Jessica Findley’s Aeolian Ride, “a mass participatory bicycling performance piece with a sense of humor.” The piece, consisting of 52 people in wind-inflated suits riding bicycles through cities around the world, is scheduled to pass through Santa Barbara… Read more

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  • Archivision Module 4 is now available in MDID

    We’re very happy to report that the 6,080 beautiful Archivision images (the VRA conference raffle grand prize, if you remember) are now available in the VRC image database (MDID).  Select “Archivision Module 4” as the collection you want to search, or click on “Browse” on the menu and select the collection and browse criterion.   You… Read more

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  • New ARTstor feature: Saving details to image groups

    ARTstor has created a new feature that allows users to save details to image groups. This new icon (save to image group) is located at the lower right of the Image Viewer and will save the image (in whatever zoomed and/or rotated position you are viewing it) to either a new or an existing image… Read more

  • Louvre launches English language database

    The Musée du Louvre has launched an English language version of Atlas, its online database that currently contains over 22,000  digital images and records (with the goal of making all 35,000 works on permanent display available).  Many images include details or multiple views.  This English version was made possible through the American Friends of the… Read more

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  • National Geographic photos to go on sale

    For the first time the National Geographic Society will be putting photographs from its archives on sale.  As reported in the New York Times a selection from the archives will be offered through the Steven Kasher Gallery in Manhattan, beginning September 17.  Several of the photos have never been published or exhibited, and most date… Read more

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  • Mona Lisa mugged

    A Russian woman attacked Leonardo’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre on August 2 by throwing an empty mug she apparently had just purchased at the gift shop. No damage was done to the painting, however, as the mug shattered on contact with the protective glass. It is unclear whether the woman suffered from Stendhal Syndrome… Read more