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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Architect Valentines
Jody Brown at Coffee with an Architect offers up a Valentine’s exclusive: Architect Valentines. Because architects are romantic. Design to send one to someone you love. via ArchDaily Read more
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All the photography gadgets you’ll ever need!
Red Dot just learned about a great online store that specializes in gadgets that turn your phone into a super camera, lets you record video with your glasses, turn your iPhone into a Polaroid, or serve your coffee in a mug that looks like a lens. PhotoJojo is where we’ll be doing our shopping! Read more
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Update: The Dead Sea Scrolls 2.0
In 2011, we reported that The Israeli Museum launched The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls, an online resource for beautiful images and scholarly translations of the scrolls. Now, the Israel Antiquities Authority just debuted an upgraded version of its Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. It includes 10,000 new multispectral images as well as improved… Read more
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Jackson Pollock’s Mural to show at the Getty
Almost two years ago, the University of Iowa Museum of Art sent Jackson Pollock’s Mural (1943) — a large 8 x 20 foot canvas — to the Getty for technical study and conservation. This extensive study has yielded “much new and significant information about the painting and its role in a transitional moment in Pollock’s… Read more
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Architecture & Design Film Festival coming to LA, March 12-16, 2014
The Architecture & Design Film Festival, the “nation’s largest film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design,” is coming to Los Angeles for the first time in its five-year history. ADFF Los Angeles will be held at the downtown Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 South Spring Street, and will showcase more than 30… Read more