Ryan Lanji Reflects on THE HANG Afterparty for Minor Attractions Art Fair

Cultural producer and curator Ryan Lanji wrote a stream-of-consciousness piece for Elephant about THE HANG, the opening party for Minor Attractions, an art fair that creates a transient world for a few days. Lanji, who describes himself as an artist whose medium is people, wanted an afterparty where people could actually hang, where the white cube came undone, and where the rave came back. He enlisted Lucia Blayke, Jack Mudd, Lexii, Joel Mignott, and The Stiletto Prince and took everyone to Electrowerkz, a London venue known for rave and techno culture. The event mixed queers, famous people, artists, unknowns, fashion people, club kids, collectors, and enthusiasts. Lanji reflects on how culture happens when people don't blend together, citing moments like an artist dancing with a drag queen or a collector not knowing the DJ. He contrasts this with algorithm-driven socializing that introduces us to ourselves, and recalls his early days in London when a lighter in a smoking area could spark a conversation, a friendship, or a romance. He describes curating people as arranging the possibility of an incident: finding a room, turning down the lights, making the music loud, moving people around, and waiting. THE HANG was not networking or content but a room full of people who weren't necessarily supposed to meet. Lanji concludes that culture isn't the picture but everything that happened outside the frame, before the photographer arrives and before it's named.