Mar Hwa Wei 魏華 is an interdisciplinary artist and integrative psychiatrist specializing in treating anxiety and intergenerational trauma using psychotherapy and mindfulness.

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MAR HWA WEI 魏華 (Dr. Marlynn Wei, MD, JD) is an interdisciplinary artist, board-certified psychiatrist, certified yoga teacher, and author of the Harvard Medical School Guide to Yoga. Based on research on digital immortality and artificial intimacy, Mar is a dream alchemist who crafts futuristic and otherworldly thought experiences about how AI changes us.

Mar is a 2020 Pipeline Theatre Playspace artist and 2020 MaxMachina incubator/residency artist to develop the immersive and interactive, modular performance Elixir: Digital Immortality. Elixir is based on an AI startup (www.elixirforever.com) that offers digital immortality through AI clones or digital twins. Early versions of Elixir were performed at interactive arts festivals and art galleries in New York City and virtual iterations. She is a 2023 ForgeNYC artist fellow.

An expert contributor to Psychology Today (with over 3.4 million views), UX Magazine, and Harvard Health, Mar specializes in treating anxiety and intergenerational trauma with psychotherapy and is the founder of a New York City-based holistic integrative psychotherapy private practice. Mar is the recipient of the Anne Alonso Award for Psychotherapy from Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital.

Inspired by research in philosophy, ethics, and the psychology of AI, “thought experiences” clarify existential questions and our relationship with memory, mortality, legacy-making, and self-actualization. These works explore ancient rituals, existential questions, and spirituality through the lens of technology and highlight authenticity and moments of meeting.

A graduate of Yale College, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale Law School, Mar served as senior editor of the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics and as chief resident at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry program.

Artist CV

Presentations

2022 May 15. Can Empathy Exist in the Metaverse? Video podcast with host Casey Clegg (Pubnub COO), with panelists Wanda Gregory, Philip Rosedale.

2021 November 19. University of Cambridge, Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence. Design for Digital (Im)mortality panel at Digital (Im)mortality: Philosophy, Ethics and Design.

2021 Summer. Pipeline Theatre Preview of Beta UX: interactive interview, ELIXIR: Digital Immortality.

2021 January and March. Pipeline Theatre, Internal Workshops of ELIXIR AI.

2020 Spring. Developing ELIXIR AI. Media Art Exploration workshop, artist residency.

Performances

2021 May-June ELIXIR AI: Digital Immortality. Preview of Beta User Experience with Pipeline Theatre, New York, NY. Playwright.

2020 June ELIXIR: Virtual 1:1 v2.0 with Media Art Exploration, New York, NY. Playwright/Creator.

2019 ELIXIR: Digital Immortality & Last Words Ceremony, performance art, Burn This, The Factory LIC, Long Island City, Queens, New York. Performer/creator.

2019 ELIXIR: Digital Immortality & Last Words Ceremony, performance art, Dusklit Festival, interactive art festival, Sugar Loaf, Chester, New York. Performer/creator.

2017 NOWHERE/ NOW WHERE/ NOW HERE, print & performance art, BAU Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, Florence/Viareggio, Italy. Collaborator with Diego Bertelli.

Selected Writing

2019 Radiant, short film screenplay, selected for The Cutting Room Short Film Festival NYC

Solo Exhibitions

2006 In Medias Res: Body as Subject-Object, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT