Avoidable Perils | Darwin Festival

Commissioned by Darwin Festival, Brisbane Festival and Metro Arts

Bad things are happening and our heroes are at risk! Will you help save them? From techno-troublemakers Counterpilot comes Avoidable Perils, a new dubious social experiment developed in collaboration with Optikal Bloc.

Cartoon heroes are caught up in a series of precarious circumstances that are beamed through screens at Festival Park to an audience of innocent bystanders. A tank full of sharks, a deadly laser beam, a vat of acid – every few minutes, scenes of imminent peril unfold with dark whimsy. As the clock ticks down, our heroes face certain danger. But tragedy can be avoided!
With a simple text message, you can be part of the solution. But it will take a few of you. If witnesses can rally enough people to participate in time, the hero can be saved. The question is… can anyone be bothered?

A game for the masses, Avoidable Perils explores activism in the attention economy and the need for social cooperation towards a greater good. These ideas are particularly poignant during the COVID-19 pandemic, where individual choices have a significant impact on our collective wellbeing. In the face of this very real peril, we have to realise there is no lone saviour around the corner. We are all the heroes. And safety is a team sport. Join us nightly in Festival Park to be part of the action.