Diminish and Ascend, Aluminum sculpture at Kiosk Lake, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, New Zealand

Diminish and Ascend is an aluminum sculpture featuring a stairway that rises from Kiosk Lake in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. The steps narrow progressively as they climb, creating a visual effect that makes the structure appear to stretch infinitely upward.

David McCracken's welded aluminium stairway was first shown in 2013 at Sculpture by the Sea on Bondi Beach, Australia, then moved to Waiheke Island. In 2016 it was installed in Kiosk Lake at Christchurch Botanic Gardens, funded by a NZ$192,000 grant from the Friends of the Botanic Gardens and the Christchurch City Council Art in Public Spaces Fund.

The illusion depends on steps that shrink from wide treads at the base to a few centimetres at the top, so the stairway seems endless from certain angles. The Huffington Post described it as an M. C. Escher drawing in real life, and Pinar Noota of My Modern Met called it a stairway to heaven. Councillor Phil Clearwater has termed it a peaceful, reflective artwork.

The sculpture sits directly by Kiosk Lake and is easily accessible following the main pathways through the gardens. The area around it is flat and open, making it simple for visitors to approach from any direction.

Water birds like ducks and coots frequently use the structure as a perch and launching point while swimming. The aluminum surface requires regular cleaning because of the activity of these local birds.