Ariell Zéphyr ~ Keywords: commons & commoning, parody of the Self, desire, Pleasure, utoping, decolonial pedagogic practice, warm-up, healing, generative conflict

Ariell Zéphyr (they/them, Rome, 1995) research practice has always focused on processes of co-creation and co-authorship—both within collectives and with their own family. Their work investigates issues of re-enchantment and expectation, with a focus on the relationship between the collective and the private, the community and the individual.

Their inquiry is driven by the existential need to understand the origin, development, and application of what we commonly call “expectation”—that system of anticipation whose representations of possible future states determine present actions. They are both fascinated and intimidated by how cultural and mnemonic “systems” delimit their field of action, and how, through a strange Nietzschean cycle, this field can (re)construct these systems in order to confirm or challenge them.

Expectations are born in the intersections between desires and pleasures. Ariell explores the concept of desire as the aesthetic act par excellence: the creation of worlds, of expectations, of enchantments. Moreover, desire connects the collective and the individual—without homogenising either.

Ariell Zéphyr graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts (ABA) in Rome in 2021. That same year, they founded the annual editorial project A Priori Magazine in collaboration with the Students’ Council—a magazine for social, cultural, and poetic coordination among students of ABA in Italy. They co-founded the collectives Unconformity (a laboratory for modeling reality), Fuochi Allegri (a device for anticipating future festivities), and the artist-run space Porto Simpatica. Between 2021 and 2022, they took part in several events, including Una Boccata d’Arte with Fondazione Elpis.

In 2023, they co-founded the nomadic collective Šumma ālu, with which they carry out laboratory-based research around the decolonization of desire, focusing on themes of pleasure and utopia. With the collective, they organized various workshops and warm-ups throughout Italy, and performed in several venues, including La Fab at Galerie du jour Agnès B., Paris. They also participated in several residencies, including at Gommalacca Teatro (2023) and Castro Project (2025).

In 2023, they began studying at the DAI Roaming Academy and were selected for the first edition of Nuovo Gran Tour by Ramdam, un centre d’art, Lyon.

*Learn more about Ariell Zéphyr's 20 minute performance Flesh parody for CHOREIA ~ DAI's Aeroponic Acts 2025 at Centrale Fies in Italy. 

*Learn more about Ariell Zéphyr's written MA thesis (DAI, 2025): Desiring to live Happily?

*During their journey with DAI, Ariell Zéphyr made significant contributions to: COOP SUMMIT 2024 ~ …And Then I Opened My Mouth as well as COOP Summit 2025 ~ Good Deal.

*Follow Ariell's 'Life after DAI' via instagram