{"id":8978,"date":"2024-11-13T17:23:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T16:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/kb-kosmos\/rita-mcbride\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T19:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:04:18","slug":"rita-mcbride","status":"publish","type":"digitorial","link":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/kb-kosmos\/rita-mcbride\/","title":"Rita McBride","content":"","excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve probably seen this before. But what does that do in a museum? We know these boxes from our environment. Wherever people create a technical infrastructure, they build such boxes. They contain distributions for internet and telephone or also for electricity. Normally we hardly notice them&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":{"alt":"A grey box 1.80 metres high and over 2 metres long, perhaps from an electricity distribution board or for telecommunications. It is white from the lid to the base.","title":"McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px","caption":"Rita McBride, Middle Manager (Gerhardt), 2007, Installation view exhibition \u201cDreams of an Owl\u201d, 2024, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Photo: Philipp Ottend\u00f6rfer, \u00a9 VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026","width":697,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-105x150.jpg","small":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-209x300.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg","large":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg","full":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg"},"srcset":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-105x150.jpg 105w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-362x520.jpg 362w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg 697w"},"template":"","digitorialkategorien":[89,91],"class_list":["post-8978","digitorial","type-digitorial","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","digitorialkategorien-built-systems","digitorialkategorien-living-together"],"acf":{"blocks_content":"   <div class=\"blocks-content container\">\n                                                                              \n         \n         <div class=\" mb-475 mb-sm-5 mb-lg-55\">\n            <div class=\"row justify-content-center the-content \">\n\n               <!-- Headings -->\n                                                                           \n                                             <div class=\"col-12 col-xs-8 col-sm-6 text-center\">\n                           <figure class=' -has-caption' ><img src='https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg' srcset='https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-105x150.jpg 105w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px-362x520.jpg 362w, https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Webseite_KB-Kosmos-1000px.jpg 697w' sizes='(min-width: 576px) 50vw, 94vw'  alt='A grey box 1.80 metres high and over 2 metres long, perhaps from an electricity distribution board or for telecommunications. It is white from the lid to the base.' width='697' height='1000'  loading='lazy' ><figcaption class=''>Rita McBride, Middle Manager (Gerhardt), 2007, Installation view exhibition \u201cDreams of an Owl\u201d, 2024, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Photo: Philipp Ottend\u00f6rfer, \u00a9 VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>                        <\/div>\n                                       \n                              <!-- End Switch Layout  -->\n\n            <\/div>\n         <\/div>\n                                                                                       \n         \n         <div class=\" mb-475 mb-sm-5 mb-lg-55\">\n            <div class=\"row justify-content-center the-content  font-l sans-serif\">\n\n               <!-- Headings -->\n                                 <div class=\"col-12\">\n                     <p><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-8978-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Eulentraum_KB-Kosmos_301124-230225.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Eulentraum_KB-Kosmos_301124-230225.mp3\">https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/McBride_Middle-Managers_Eulentraum_KB-Kosmos_301124-230225.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ve probably seen something like this before. But what does that do in a museum?<\/p>\n<p>We know these boxes from our environment. Wherever people create a technical infrastructure, they build such boxes. They contain distributions for internet and telephone or also for electricity. Normally we hardly notice them.<\/p>\n<p>One thing stands out: These boxes never look as good as the works of artist Rita McBride, but are usually full of tags or posters, plus they usually have a dull plastic surface that looks tarnished by sunlight over the years.<br \/>\nThis box (and a few others with it) has made it into the museum, so to speak: Rita McBride had it produced in powder-coated aluminum. And she gave him a name: Gerhardt.<\/p>\n                  <\/div>\n\n                              <!-- End Switch Layout  -->\n\n            <\/div>\n         <\/div>\n                                                                                       \n         \n         <div class=\" mb-475 mb-sm-5 mb-lg-55\">\n            <div class=\"row justify-content-center the-content \">\n\n               <!-- Headings -->\n                                                                                          \n                     <div class=\"content-accordion | col-12 py-3\">\n                        <div id=\"content-accordion-2\">\n                                                         <div class=\"akkordeon-item | bg-gray-200 rounded-4 mb-1\" >   <!-- head -->\n      <h3 class='akkordeon-header font-xl py-125 m-0' id='content-accordion-2-head0'>\n      <button class='akkordeon-header__link d-flex w-100 line-height-12-force  shadow-none font-l-force text-start justify-content-between hover-text-shadow-light btn btn-overlay round collapsed' role='button' data-bs-toggle='collapse' data-bs-target='#content-accordion-2-col0' aria-expanded='false' aria-controls='content-accordion-2-col0'>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__text pe-3 pe-lg-4'>Size matters!<\/span>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__icon round flex-shrink-0'><\/span>\n      <\/button>\n   <\/h3>\n\n   <!-- body -->\n<div id='content-accordion-2-col0' class='accordion-collapse collapse ' aria-labelledby='content-accordion-2-head0' data-bs-parent='#content-accordion-2'><div class='akkordeon-body'>                              <div class=\"akkordeon__text font-l last-child-mb-0 the-content -btns-black px-325 pt-2 pb-35\">\n                                 <p>The \u201cMiddle Managers\u201d have very different sizes. If we compare them with the distribution boxes that can be found in our cities, we notice something: they are either significantly smaller than the large \u201eMiddle Manager\u201c or considerably larger than the smaller ones in this room. Rita McBride is obviously not interested in recreating such a distribution box exactly.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview in 2024 with Christina V\u00e9gh, the director of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Rita McBride comments:<\/p>\n<p>\u201eSize is determining everything &#8230;, from perception to actual ability to build things. [\u2026] So it always describes, in a very functional, practical way, what your parameters are for working. And that, in an expanded sense, is really contextually important. It\u2019s a dance with the context; the various contexts that may be inherent in a public site or in a gallery or in a museum and politics that surround these venues. There&#8217;s a lot going on and you don&#8217;t have to be symbiotic with whatever is going on but surely must consider everything. What size, what material and what form you would like to present in a specific context of time and place is formed by all these components and ultimately forms the artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n                              <\/div>\n                              <\/div><\/div><\/div>                                                         <div class=\"akkordeon-item | bg-gray-200 rounded-4 mb-1\" >   <!-- head -->\n      <h3 class='akkordeon-header font-xl py-125 m-0' id='content-accordion-2-head1'>\n      <button class='akkordeon-header__link d-flex w-100 line-height-12-force  shadow-none font-l-force text-start justify-content-between hover-text-shadow-light btn btn-overlay round collapsed' role='button' data-bs-toggle='collapse' data-bs-target='#content-accordion-2-col1' aria-expanded='false' aria-controls='content-accordion-2-col1'>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__text pe-3 pe-lg-4'>Who is the middle manager Gerhardt?<\/span>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__icon round flex-shrink-0'><\/span>\n      <\/button>\n   <\/h3>\n\n   <!-- body -->\n<div id='content-accordion-2-col1' class='accordion-collapse collapse ' aria-labelledby='content-accordion-2-head1' data-bs-parent='#content-accordion-2'><div class='akkordeon-body'>                              <div class=\"akkordeon__text font-l last-child-mb-0 the-content -btns-black px-325 pt-2 pb-35\">\n                                 <p>A middle manager in a company is there to manage the day-to-day processes in the company&#8217;s departments. He also keeps an eye on how the individual employees are progressing with their tasks.<br \/>\nMiddle managers are not in the limelight of a company. They are not the top executives who steer the strategy and destiny of a company. In this way, they fulfill a function comparable to the grey boxes in our cities that simply stand around and of which hardly anyone knows how important they are for the functioning of our technological world.<\/p>\n<p>Rita McBride has thus created a kind of double appreciation with her work: on the one hand for a technical object, on the other for often overlooked functionaries in management.<\/p>\n                              <\/div>\n                              <\/div><\/div><\/div>                                                   <\/div>\n                     <\/div>\n                  \n                  <!-- Sonsiges Block (HTML Option) -->\n                              <!-- End Switch Layout  -->\n\n            <\/div>\n         <\/div>\n                                                                                       \n         \n         <div class=\" mb-475 mb-sm-5 mb-lg-55\">\n            <div class=\"row justify-content-center the-content \">\n\n               <!-- Headings -->\n                                                                                          \n                     <div class=\"content-accordion | col-12 py-3\">\n                        <div id=\"content-accordion-3\">\n                                                         <div class=\"akkordeon-item | bg-gray-200 rounded-4 mb-1\" >   <!-- head -->\n      <h3 class='akkordeon-header font-xl py-125 m-0' id='content-accordion-3-head0'>\n      <button class='akkordeon-header__link d-flex w-100 line-height-12-force  shadow-none font-l-force text-start justify-content-between hover-text-shadow-light btn btn-overlay round collapsed' role='button' data-bs-toggle='collapse' data-bs-target='#content-accordion-3-col0' aria-expanded='false' aria-controls='content-accordion-3-col0'>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__text pe-3 pe-lg-4'>Data about the artwork<\/span>\n         <span class='akkordeon-header__icon round flex-shrink-0'><\/span>\n      <\/button>\n   <\/h3>\n\n   <!-- body -->\n<div id='content-accordion-3-col0' class='accordion-collapse collapse ' aria-labelledby='content-accordion-3-head0' data-bs-parent='#content-accordion-3'><div class='akkordeon-body'>                              <div class=\"akkordeon__text font-l last-child-mb-0 the-content -btns-black px-325 pt-2 pb-35\">\n                                 <p><strong>Artist:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Rita McBride (born 28.03.1960 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Title:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Middle Manager (Gerhardt)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Year:<br \/>\n<\/strong>2007<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material\/technology:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Powder-coated aluminum<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dimensions:<br \/>\n<\/strong>180 x 220 x 58 cm<\/p>\n<p><strong>Entry into the collection:<br \/>\n<\/strong>2024, donated by the artist<\/p>\n                              <\/div>\n                              <\/div><\/div><\/div>                                                   <\/div>\n                     <\/div>\n                  \n                  <!-- Sonsiges Block (HTML Option) -->\n                              <!-- End Switch Layout  -->\n\n            <\/div>\n         <\/div>\n                                                                                       \n         \n         <div class=\" mb-475 mb-sm-5 mb-lg-55\">\n            <div class=\"row justify-content-center the-content  font-m g-sm-4 g-md-5 sans-serif\">\n\n               <!-- Headings -->\n                                 <div class=\"col-12 col-sm-6 col-md-6\">\n                     <p>Author: Matthias Albrecht<\/p>\n                  <\/div>\n\n                              <!-- End Switch Layout  -->\n\n            <\/div>\n         <\/div>\n                  <\/div>\n","gallerie":null,"subtitle":"Middle Manager (Gerhardt)"},"id_default":8400,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digitorial\/8978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digitorial"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/digitorial"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digitorial\/8978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"digitorialkategorien","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digitorialkategorien?post=8978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}