Peril in the Square

Book excerpt: Peril in the Square follows the highs and lows of Vault, Ron Robertson-Swanns bright yellow abstract sculpture dubbed by its detractors as the Yellow Peril. Vault was the catalyst for the most furious debate over the rights and wrongs of art in public places ever witnessed in Australia. Richly illustrated with nearly 100 photographs, most of them in color, this book gives readers the full story of Melbournes best-known public art work, from its beginnings as a maquette that shocked the city council in the late 1970s, all the way to its present resurrection at Southbank.