The table is a replica of a 16th century desert table from the French court of Louis XIV. I have distorted one quadrant of the table into a spiral.

17th century engraving on which the full scale copy was based.

The viewer can follow the spiral into its center. The center hole is deeper than the surface of the table.

View of spiral looking past miniature sugar staircase to full sized steel staircase.

Viewers could climb the spiral staircase to get an overhead view of the table. The table was so large that it was impossible to understand its shape when standing next to it. The overhead view served as a kind of bird's-eye-view, reinforcing the landscape-like character of the table.

The table was scattered with archipelagos of islands across its surface - a kind of arctic landscape of ice floes. In the center sat a miniature spiral staircase made of sugar.

The miniature staircase is a replica of a 19th century model made in the French "compagnonnage" system. My replica is double the original model size. It is made of sugar and centered in the middle of the table's expanse.

At the top of the stairs prior to entering the gallery, viewers encountered a scale model of the gallery installation.

The model perfectly replicated in miniature the gallery, the talble, the model staircase and the full sized spiral staircase.

The viewer had to stoop slightly to see into the diorama. They then turned to the right to enter the gallery and see the entire scene at full scale.