Event Details

An Evening of Library Brutalism: Bob Fischer(The Haunted Generation) and live music from Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan.

The children of the 1970s grew up surrounded by melancholy unease: from the outright terror of Doctor Who to the sepia-tinted stories of Bagpuss and the unsettling warnings of Public Information Films. Since the late 1990s, a whole artistic movement has been inspired by these deliciously fuzzy memories. In an illustrated talk entitled The Haunted Generation, Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer examines the cultural influences that helped define the 1970s childhood, and tracks the rise of popular hauntology.

Afterwards, there'll be a headline set of live music from Warrington Runcorn Newtown Development Plan. Gordon Chapman-Fox makes startlingly evocative analogue electronica inspired by the Brutalist architecture and ambitious town planning of the 1970s, and his two albums to date - Interim Report 1979 and People & Industry - have been widely acclaimed. The follow-up - District, Roads, Open Space - is set for release in autumn 2022 and aims to capture the "loneliness, emptiness and desolation of open spaces".

"I'm delighted to be coming back to Lancaster University," says Bob. "I was a student here 30 years ago, and the beautiful concrete of that 1960s campus played a huge part in my formative years".

"I've been working for Lancaster University for 17 years" says Gordon Chapman-Fox "and it's a joy to bring my passion for music and the somewhat unloved buildings of the 60s and 70s to the place that helped foment it."

Andrew Barker, Lancaster University's Director of Library Services said, 'We are delighted to welcome back Bob to the university to help us reflect on a time and a place which gave birth to our university, and to welcome our colleague Gordon to the library for his headline set of beautiful analogue electronica. This evening supports our vision to open up our library to all in our communities, and we are all very excited about our Evening of Library Brutalism'.