Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde accused of plagiarism

Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde is again facing accusations of plagiarism, this time for his latest work Liquid Landscape, which was unveiled in the Italian open-air museum Arte Sella on Tuesday. According to Dutch artist Zoro Feigl, this is an exact copy of his artwork Floating Field from 2013, the Volkskrant reports.

Liquid Landscape consists of 50 square meters of artificial turf, with a large liquid-filled balloon underneath. Visitors can step on the turf and feel the ground move beneath them. 

"I was perplexed when I saw it," Feigl said to the newspaper. "This is simply exactly the same as a temporary work I made in 2013 for a financial institution. My installation Floating Field is also a landscaped lawn with a basin of liquid below that visitors can walk over."

Roosegaarde does not deny the striking resemblance between the two artworks, but told the Volkskrant that he only found out about Feigl's work two weeks ago in a TV show about the artist. Roosegaarde said that he and his team worked on Liquid Landscape for three years. "During which in-depth research was carried out. We did not come across Feigl's work. The experts and curators consulted were apparently also unfamiliar with the work, so we did not do anything wrong," he said, adding that he called Feigl the moment he found out about his work.

Feigl found this conversation intimidating. According to him, Roosegaarde asked him to adapt his work, which Feigl refused. He does not know how to proceed now, Fiegl said to the the newspaper. "I am powerless against Daan Roosegaarde's PR machine. I was talking with a client about a permanent placement of Floating Field in a park in the Netherlands. That is no longer possible."

This is not the first time Roosegaarde is accused of plagiarism. In 2016, scientist Bob Ursem said he artist stole his scientific invention for the artwork Smog Tower, an installation that filters particulate matter from the air. Shortly afterwards, Roosegaarde was accused of copying a work by artist Ger van Elk for an exhibition in the temporary DWDD Museum.