Zoja Zixuan Wei (b. 2000, Mongolia), an emerging performance artist and choreographer, explores the intricate intersections of psychology, performance art, and sensory immersion. Driven by a profound curiosity about sensations, perceptions, and affect, Zoja's art practice delves into the intra-actions between humans, non-humans, and nature, unfolding in immersive theater, psychedelic stimulator design, and body art. With a rich background in arts, psychology, and communications, Zoja aims to engage and transform communities through participatory and sensuous experiences.
By incorporating long-duration body arts and multi-sensory experiences, Zoja creates transformative spaces where participants can explore and transcend their sensory and cognitive boundaries. Born in Mongolia and deeply connected with nature and nomadic spaces, Zoja's work is influenced by Chinese Daoist philosophy, particularly the five elements (fire, wood, earth, metal, and water). This philosophical framework informs Zoja's mindful movement workshops designed to balance inner energies and yin-yang dynamics, transcending the dominance of any single element through embodiment.
Zoja's academic journey is deeply entwined with phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and affect theory. Her engagement with these themes began during her undergraduate studies in Slavic Philosophy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, where she developed a keen interest in psychedelic experiences within art therapy. She furthered her studies with a Master's degree in Psychology and Global Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2022. Her dissertation, Hallucinating a Trip: The Phenomenological Experience of Audience Immersion in Theatrical Spectacle—A Case Study of Punchdrunk’s ‘The Burnt City’, challenged the traditional Western phenomenological emphasis on active participation by introducing the Eastern philosophical concept of action through non-action (Wuwei), shifting the focus towards a more passive engagement.
Currently, Zoja just pursued the second Masters in Global Communications and Performance Arts at the University of Southern California. Under the mentorship of Professor Amelia Jones, she applied Merleau-Ponty's concept of Chiasmus to her performance art practice and dissertation, The Passive and Disappeared: Expanded Immersiveness in Sisters Hope’s Performance Art. This approach emphasizes intersubjectivity and intercorporeality, challenging traditional distinctions between subjectivity and objectivity, and redefining participant engagement in immersive experiences.
Contact:
Email: zojazixuanwei@gmail.com
instagram: zoja.zixuan
CV upon request