Spotted Online – “The Sand Storm” Kickstarter Project Cancelled

A seemingly awesome choice for anyone who enjoyed Paolo Bacigalupi’s Pump Six and Other Stories* and The Windup Girl*, the Kickstarter project for The Sand Storm film slipped beneath my notice . . . until it was cancelled.

Posted to the Fast Company site yesterday, this article discusses the sci-fi short film and how Chinese political activist Ai Weiwei may have used Kickstarter as a public performance.

“It now appears that Wishnow may have misconstrued Ai’s involvement, misunderstood him, or played an unwitting role in a larger performance piece. A few days before the deadline, Kickstarter abruptly removed the page, citing copyright infringement. Ai also tweeted a cease-and-desist letter from his studio representatives.”

The YouTube video (shown above), combined with the description in the Fast Company article, makes me wish this had gone through and happened.

And the entire event demonstrates how there’s so much information out there it’s very easy to miss things. I would have backed this right away had I seen the project when it was live.

Related articles

• Ai Weiwei in film fundraising dispute (washingtontimes.com)