Shannon Cuykendall (PhD) is a transdisciplinary artist and scholar working across the fields of dance, interaction design, and cognitive science. Her interactive installations and choreography have been presented internationally in Poland, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States and Canada. Shannon received her PhD from the School of Interactive Arts & Technology at Simon Fraser University in 2022 and studies how kinesthetic experiences can be transmitted in technologically-mediated environments. Floating Departures is Shannon’s first professional film submission; however, she has been exploring film and digital technologies in contemporary performance, as a way to reach broader audiences, since 2006.
Steve DiPaola, active as an artist and scientist, is a professor at Simon Fraser University, where he directs the cognitive-based Artificial Intelligence I-Viz Lab and also has a professional art career. He came to SFU from Stanford University. He has over 100 science-based publications, patents, and books. His artwork has been exhibited at the A.I.R. Tenderpixel, and Tibor de Nagy galleries in NYC/London as well as museums MoMA, Tate, Whitney, and the Smithsonian. He co-curated the first computer art show in a major NYC gallery in 1988 and had one of the first one-man travel shows of his AI art.
Alexandra Pickrell (she/her) is a Saskatchewan born dance artist based currently in Vancouver, British Columbia. She will be graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance from Simon Fraser University in the summer of 2021. Alexandra is an ex world Baton twirling athlete with interests in collaboration and creation. She strives to make the world a softer and kinder place through her vulnerable and atmospheric choreography.
Roya Pishvaei (she/her) is a Canadian dance artist based in Surrey, British Columbia. She is currently a 3rd-year undergraduate student studying modern and contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University. She trains in both contemporary and commercial genres of dance and her choreography often exhibits a blend of her diverse backgrounds. She has a great interest in interdisciplinary collaborations and much of her choreography can be seen on screen. Roya is continuing to emerge as a multi-faceted dance artist and will be graduating from SFU’s contemporary art program summer of 2022.
Floating Departures 