Vault is a public sculpture

Public art

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...

 located in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The work of sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann

Ron Robertson-Swann

Ron Robertson-Swann OAM , is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture Vault . His sculpture has been described as being in the Anthony Caro style , which he adopted after studying at St Martins School of Art, London, in the 1960s. He studied under Lyndon...

, Vault is an abstract

Abstract art

Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...

, minimalist sculpture built of large thick flat polygonal sheets of prefabricated steel, assembled in a way that suggests dynamic movement. It is painted yellow.

Presently located outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank....

, it is a key work in Melbourne's public art collection, and of considerable historical importance to the city.

Vault has weathered much controversy throughout its existence. Commissioned by the Melbourne City Council in 1978 for the newly built Melbourne City Square

City Square, Melbourne

The City Square is a pedestrian plaza and former civic centre located in the Central Business District of Melbourne, Australia. The square is currently bounded by Swanston Street, Collins Street, Flinders Lane and the Westin Hotel. Melbourne Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral are prominent...

, the sculpture was not even built before it began to attract criticism from conservative media and council factions, on the grounds that its modern form was felt to be unsympathetic to the location. The cost of $70,000 was also felt to be excessive. The sculpture, which officially had no title at this date, was given the derogatory nickname "The Yellow Peril" by the newspapers, a name which has stuck.

Installed in the City Square in May 1980, Vault lasted until December of that year, when its dismantling coincided with the State Government

Government of Victoria

The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...

's sacking of the City Council. The Builders Labourers Federation

Builders Labourers Federation

The Builders Labourers Federation is an Australian trade union organisation which existed from 1911 until 1972, and from 1976 until 1986, when it was permanently deregistered in various Australian States by the federal Labor government and some state governments of the time. This occurred in the...

 consequently placed bans on further City Square work projects.

In 1981 Vault was re-erected at Batman Park

Batman Park

Batman Park is an urban park, located on the northern bank of the Yarra River in central Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Batman Park is a small open grassed space with paths and planted Eucalyptus trees bordered by Spencer Street at the west, Flinders Street Viaduct at the north and King Street to...

 (named after John Batman

John Batman

John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...

) and remained there in neglect and obscurity until 2002 when it was restored and moved to its current Southbank

Southbank, Victoria

Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...

location.