BLUT – Reading and Conversation with the Author David Bilkei about his Book "Blut"

Description

BLUT
On the Art of Omission
How little is needed for a story to emerge?
A novel does not live solely from what is written. A significant part of its effect arises where the text pauses, leaves something open, does not fully articulate an idea. For David Bilkei, reduction is therefore not just a matter of style, but a form of storytelling: not saying as little as possible, but exactly enough so that something of one's own can emerge while reading.
On October 3rd, David Bilkei will be a guest at Thür Art Manufacture with his novel Blut. The reading will not only provide insight into the novel but also into the process from which it originated. It is about characters and their relationships, about loyalty and dependence, about research and fiction, about planning and creativity – and repeatedly about the question of what a writer must show and what he can leave to the reader.
For Bilkei, writing also means consciously withholding information. A space does not need to be fully described to be imaginable. Two precise details can suffice. A sound, a movement, a smell, or a surface can evoke a perception that goes far beyond what is actually written. The author provides the material; the image is created in the reader's imagination.
Thus, the empty space becomes a productive space. What is missing is not simply absence. It invites completion. The reader reconstructs, suspects, remembers, connects. He becomes a silent co-creator of the story, from its recipient to its silent co-creator. Bilkei describes a special form of communication: the author sets impulses, the reader completes them.
Here, blood and our exhibition theme "Reichlich wenig" (Plenty of Little) intersect directly.
What initially sounds like scarcity can prove to be the opposite. The little can be rich if it does not define everything. Reduction can create fullness if it leaves room. A detail can be more powerful than a description, an allusion more sustainable than an explanation. Not because less is fundamentally more, but because omission enables participation.
In this sense, blood and "Reichlich wenig" revolve around the same fundamental question: How much is necessary for something to point beyond itself? What must be present for imagination to arise? Where does excess begin that leaves nothing open? And when does reduction become a form of freedom?
Bilkei's considerations on creativity also lead in this direction. Restrictions do not have to make the creative space smaller. A boundary can define it altogether. Within a limited space, possibilities arise that would not be visible outside this boundary.
This also applies to the characters in his novel. They are created by the author but develop their own internal logic with increasing precision. At some point, a character might do something it would not do, even if it contradicts the planned plot. Then the relationship between author and character changes: the author leads – and must also grant freedom. The character gains independence, especially because it becomes credible within its set boundaries.
Similarly, the reader also needs orientation but not complete guidance. Bilkei is interested in the zone between too little and too much: where the text provides enough clues to create a story without fully determining perception.
Thus, a reading about Blut also becomes a reflection on storytelling itself. On the peculiar art of leaving something out without making it disappear. On the possibility of creating freedom through limitation. And on the realization that the unspoken does not necessarily mean less.
It can mean more.
Throughout the afternoon, David Bilkei will not only read from Blut but also discuss the decisions behind a text that remain hidden: discarded ideas, characters that become autonomous, the boundaries between research and fiction, and how much reality a fictional story needs. An afternoon about writing, relationships, and the freedom of the reader.
REICHLICH WENIG
How little is needed for a lot to emerge?

Highlights

• Reading and conversation with David Bilkei
• Insight into the novel "Blut"
• Discussion of literature, reality, and fiction

General Information

On October 3rd, a reading with author David Bilkei will take place at Thür Art Manufacture. He will present his novel "Blut" and discuss the creative process of writing as well as the art of omission in literature.

Location

Eichwiesstrasse 9, 8630 Rüti ZH, Switzerland

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