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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Architectural Software: Which, and how?
Earlier this month, ArchDaily published “Which Architectural Software Should You Be Using?” (originally published on ArchSmarter as “Which architectural software is right for me?”), where author Michael Kilkelly works through factors that could influence your decision to select and learn architectural software and, with the added help of a platform-based flowchart, offers a list of applications… Read more
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Guggenheim donates 100 images to upcoming Wikipedia edit-a-thon
The Guggenheim has donated 100 images of artworks from its collection to Wikipedia in anticipation for its second Wikipedia “edit-a-thon” on Tuesday, May 19. During the event, participants at the museum and online can add information in Wikipedia as a way to explore the history, impact and influence of these artists and their works of… Read more
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Berlin after the War — in color and HD
Today marks the 70th anniversary of VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe when Germany’s Third Reich surrendered to Allied forces. To commemorate the anniversary, Konstantin von zur Mühlen has released “Spirit of Berlin,” a short color film with historic footage showing everyday life in the German capital in July 1945—just two months after the… Read more
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Getty celebrating its first digital-born publication
The Getty Research Institute published its first digital-born research project, Pietro Mellini’s Inventory in Verse, 1681: A Digital Facsimile with Translation and Commentary, an unpublished seventeenth-century manuscript in the GRI’s Special Collections. Viewers can examine high-resolution manuscript images that are zoomable, side-by-side windows that compare facsimile, transcription, and English translation, as well as highlighted text… Read more
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The Making of a Roman Silver Cup
If you’re having trouble visualizing how ancient Roman silversmiths fashioned their works, here is a video that deconstructs, and then reconstructs, one of a pair of silver and gold cups currently featured in a rare exhibition of Ancient Luxury and the Roman Silver Treasure from Berthouville on view at the Getty Villa until August 15,… Read more