Peril in the Square

The newspaper headline of July 29th 1980, Yellow Peril to go, said it all. After barely three months of holding centre stage in Melbournes new City Square amidst a barrage of abuse, the bright yellow sculpture was carted off to be re-erected at Batman Park in a rather neglected corner of the city. Here Vault, as the sculpture was eventually named by its creator, Ron Robertson-Swann, remained until...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 colour, Peril in the Square will give 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.