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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The Best Bauhaus Documentaries Available to Watch Online
via ArchDaily This year marks a century of Bauhaus. Despite dramatic shifts in technology, taste, and style in architecture in the years since, Bauhaus remains one of the most significant subjects of architectural/design education and has even captured the interest of the wider public. As part of their celebrations of the Bauhaus movement, the folks… Read more
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CA State Archives Digitizes The Alfred Eichler Collection
From the CA Sectretary of State press release: “For the first time, the California States Archives has digitized its entire collection of esteemed architect Alfred Eichler’s drawings, sketches, and watercolors. This collection of 431 images of his public project designs spans from 1925 to 1962. The complete collection is searchable and can be browsed on… Read more
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Take a 360-degree look around Buckingham Palace
Use the BBC News 360 video to walk through the palace’s rooms and discover some of the most treasured objects in the Royal Collection Trust. Read more
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DIL Mapping workshop: How to Make Maps
Please join the Image Resource Center for the first talk in our new series, Mapping, which will cover data visualization, map creation, digital recreation, as well as provide an introduction to mapping tools and resources. Our first speaker in the series is Professor Keith Clarke from the Department of Geography at UCSB, who will present How… Read more
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Behold this presidential group portrait
The painting below, “The Republican Club” by Andy Thomas, hangs in the White House, in the Oval Office in fact. It depicts several living and dead Republican presidents. This article in the Guardian breaks down each individual portrait very nicely. Discuss! Points for identification of the fellow in the background on the right. Read more
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Architectural photography finalists
Something beautiful to start off our school year: enjoy this gallery of 20 finalists for the annual Architectural Photography Awards. The winners will be announced on November 30. Children peering through Wolfgang Buttress’ installation, The Hive, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, by Turkish photographer Omer Kanipak Read more