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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Call for art submissions for Davidson Library’s Wireless Art Network
The Library is currently accepting applications from student artists for the relaunch of their Wireless Art Network (WAN), a network created by two UCSB graduates, Chris Silva (MFA, New Media, 2013) and Raymond Douglas (BA, Art Studio, 2013), to display art through wireless 802.11 technologies in public spaces. This wireless network, not connected to the… Read more
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Wellcome Images: Thousands of years of visual culture now available in hi-res images
Wellcome Library, London, announced they have made available over 100,000 high resolution images from their vast collection of resources for the study of all facets of medical history. These images include examples from ancient and medieval medical illuminated manuscripts, paintings and etchings about human anatomy and form, early photographic studies and travel portraits. These can all… Read more
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Have you visited Flickr Commons lately?
Just last month we reported that the British Library had posted more than a million images on Flickr Commons. But did you know that more than 75 libraries, archives, and museums participate in Flickr Commons by posting objects from their photography archives with no known copyright restrictions. This has translated to over 1.25 million images to… Read more
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Francis Bacon triptych buyer revealed
In case you’re dying of curiousity about who bought the Francis Bacon triptych for a record-breaking $142.4 million at the Christie’s auction in November (as reported here at the Red Dot), it has been revealed. The New York Times reported that is was Elaine Wynn, ex-wife of casino owner Steve Wynn. And in case you’d… Read more
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Updates on Detroit Bankruptcy and the fate of the DIA collection
We’ve reported here on Detroit’s financial woes and subsequent argument centered on the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA)’s collection-as-liquid-asset. Two updates to this story include the judicial ruling on the city’s ability to file for bankruptcy and the “value” of the collection after an extensive evaluation by Christie’s. The latest DIA reports indicate wide support… Read more
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Mapping the Movement of Looted Books with Viewshare
In a post from the Library of Congress’s blog The Signal, Mitch Fraas (Scholar in Residence at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania and Acting Director, Penn Digital Humanities Forum) discusses the use of Viewshare for mapping library book markings. In particular, Frass highlights a project at UPenn that seeks… Read more