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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DH Monday: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…derivative dataset!
Before she joined LC Labs, Eileen J. Manchester was an English teacher. In her classroom, the word “derivative” had a negative connotation. To be derivative was to be overly indebted to another idea and thus to lack ingenuity and creativity. When applied to datasets, however, “derivatives” abound. In fact, as you’ll see, derivative datasets sometimes… Read more
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“Mapping Fiction” Exhibition Opens at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
“Mapping Fiction” is an exhibition The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens focused on the ways authors and mapmakers have built compelling fictional worlds. On view in the Library’s West Hall (Jan. 15–May 22, 2022), the exhibition is timed to coincide with the centennial of the publication of James Joyce’s groundbreaking 1922 modernist novel,… Read more
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Seven Stories About NFTs Entering the Realm of Architecture
Over the past year, NFTs have entered the realm of architecture, prompting conversations over the role of the profession in the future digital economy. From the design of digital real-estate to exhibitions and architecture events exploring its value for the practice and established architecture firms embracing the new medium, NFTs have been embraced by the… Read more
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DH Monday: CFP – DAHJ Issue #9: The Art Museum in the New Hybridity
Call for Papers – DAHJ Issue #9, “The Art Museum in the New Hybridity,” explores the convergence of analog and digital media, focusing on the art museum in the new hybridity. Articles published on a rolling basis. Possible topics to be addressed: New assumptions of hybridity (in provision, visitation, and operation) on which curatorship can… Read more
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DH Monday: Reflecting On a Year of Selected Datasets
The Selected Datasets Collection in the Digital Content Management Section at the Library of Congress was publicly launched June 2020 as part of the Library’s ongoing efforts to support emerging data-driven styles of research. Since then, their initial offering of twenty datasets has grown to nearly 200 unique items, and they’ve continued to refine the… Read more
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DH Monday: Conference – The Art Museum in the Digital Age (online / Jan 17-21, 2022)
Online (via Zoom): Belvedere Research Center, Jan 17–21, 2022 Registration Deadline: Jan 16, 2022 The Belvedere Research Center is continuing its conference series on the digital transformation of art museums with its fourth event on the topic. During the COVID-19-lockdowns, the digital presence of museums was no longer merely one possible extension of exhibition spaces,… Read more