Unlike unrealized architectural projects, which are frequently exhibited and circulated, unrealized artworks tend to remain unnoticed or little known. But perhaps there is another form of artistic agency in the partial expression, the incomplete idea, the projection of a mere intention? Agency of Unrealized Projects (AUP) seeks to document and display these works. Whether censored, forgotten, postponed, impossible, or rejected, unrealized projects form a unique testament to the speculative power of non-action.

AUP follows the publication entitled “Unbuilt Roads: 107 Unrealized Projects,” collated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Guy Tortosa after several years of international research conducted in the late 1990s. Twenty years later, the Agency of Unrealized Projects was formed in collaboration with Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle, and an open call for unrealized projects was issued for its first public exhibition at ArtBasel in 2011. The open call will continue until all unrealized art projects are compiled.

The bridge according to Jeong-a's dream - Koo Jeong

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

Monument to Democracy - Kounellis

CIVITAS Stadtpostkarten - Lothar Baumgarten

MODELL OF AN OFFICE FOR A COUPLE OF TWINS, BOTH 1,38 TALL" - Tobias Rehrenberg

Attitudine Diplomatica - Hermann Pitz

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

Progetto per Gerry Schum - Guiseppe Penone

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4332
24.05.2011
The Golden Pavilion - Xawery Wolski
WWW
The Golden Pavilion. 1993 What is essentially remote is the unapproachable. In fact, the main quality of an image used for worship is its inapproachability. By its very nature, it is always remote, as close as it may be. One can approach its material rea ...
The Golden Pavilion. 1993 What is essentially remote is the unapproachable. In fact, the main quality of an image used for worship is its inapproachability. By its very nature, it is always remote, as close as it may be. One can approach its material rea ...
W4995
30.08.2012
Black Fountain - Maarten Daudeij
WWW
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
W5436
20.10.2012
the “A” project  - Khalil Charif
WWW
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
W5393
20.10.2012
Nursery - Ismini Chacholiadou
WWW
photographic series “Nursery” This series of photographs began as a project where Ismini Haholiadou was exploring different trajectories in her practice. Where she previously set up spaces and scenes to photograph, in this project she scouted for ...
photographic series “Nursery” This series of photographs began as a project where Ismini Haholiadou was exploring different trajectories in her practice. Where she previously set up spaces and scenes to photograph, in this project she scouted for ...
W4996
30.08.2012
Chinese American Flag - Maarten Daudeij
WWW
(Working) Title: Chinese American Flag Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of idea: 2011 Concept: To wave a large size flag of which the design is a collage of the Chinese and the American Flag on top of the Museum ...
(Working) Title: Chinese American Flag Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of idea: 2011 Concept: To wave a large size flag of which the design is a collage of the Chinese and the American Flag on top of the Museum ...
W4875
09.08.2012
Tradutraditore - Michele Molinari
WWW
TRADUTRADITORE from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Description Development Artists DESCRIPTION from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Tradutraditore is an in ...
TRADUTRADITORE from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Description Development Artists DESCRIPTION from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Tradutraditore is an in ...
W10519
05.05.2014
State of Martial Law - Maximillian George
WWW
Since 9/11, we've been living under a kind of worldwide martial law. Liberties that we take for granted are being brought into question. By shutting off arbitrary streets in Stockholm, I intend to limit people in a small but alarming ways, as a reminde ...
Since 9/11, we've been living under a kind of worldwide martial law. Liberties that we take for granted are being brought into question. By shutting off arbitrary streets in Stockholm, I intend to limit people in a small but alarming ways, as a reminde ...
W3827
19.05.2011
Ephemeral - Tomasz Domanski
WWW
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
W4020
22.05.2011
Rural pleasure trip / an investigation of sounds - Gisela Weimann
WWW
Gisela Weimann >www.giselaweimann.de< Since the 80s the focal points of my projects are sound installations and experimental music-theatre productions that include artists and theorists from different fields and national descend. Gisela Weimann ...
Gisela Weimann >www.giselaweimann.de< Since the 80s the focal points of my projects are sound installations and experimental music-theatre productions that include artists and theorists from different fields and national descend. Gisela Weimann ...
W5274
15.10.2012
Regret - Francesca Arri
WWW
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...
W4686
26.05.2011
1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. - Linda Stillman
WWW
Unrealized projects 1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. I have been tearing and storing a piece of paper, the capsule weather report, from "The New York Times" for years. I once made a wall installation with a year of these corners (see ph ...
Unrealized projects 1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. I have been tearing and storing a piece of paper, the capsule weather report, from "The New York Times" for years. I once made a wall installation with a year of these corners (see ph ...
W3608
13.05.2011
Jenny E. Balisle
WWW
My art begins with a mark or line inspired by patterns found in natural or manmade environments. My pen and ink drawings explore repetitions of line and organic forms, investigating the simplicity and complexity of gestures, marks, lines, and textures. ...
My art begins with a mark or line inspired by patterns found in natural or manmade environments. My pen and ink drawings explore repetitions of line and organic forms, investigating the simplicity and complexity of gestures, marks, lines, and textures. ...
W10245
09.04.2014
Observatory for the Study of Metropolitan Man - Bastiaan Arler
WWW
The project consists of a temporary structure made of easily available scaffolding that can be installed in any city square. It is open to the public and thus allows people to observe and to be observed in two distinct moments. The project has never been ...
The project consists of a temporary structure made of easily available scaffolding that can be installed in any city square. It is open to the public and thus allows people to observe and to be observed in two distinct moments. The project has never been ...
W4761
27.05.2011
24-Hour Kaprow - Richard Smolinski
WWW
"24-Hour Kaprow" was envisioned as a performance video where Kaprow’s collected works would be re-presented through a 24 hour long video. RICHard SMOLinski’s unrealized project, 24-Hour Kaprow 24-Hour Kaprow was envisioned as a performance vide ...
"24-Hour Kaprow" was envisioned as a performance video where Kaprow’s collected works would be re-presented through a 24 hour long video. RICHard SMOLinski’s unrealized project, 24-Hour Kaprow 24-Hour Kaprow was envisioned as a performance vide ...
W10484
28.04.2014
Tower (Without Walls) - Esther Shalev-Gerz
WWW
Jerusalem, Israel In 1998 Esther Shalev-Gerz proposed the intervention Tower (Without Walls) to the city of Jerusalem. The project consisted of imagining Jerusalem without city walls, by projecting the image of the streets located on the other side ont ...
Jerusalem, Israel In 1998 Esther Shalev-Gerz proposed the intervention Tower (Without Walls) to the city of Jerusalem. The project consisted of imagining Jerusalem without city walls, by projecting the image of the streets located on the other side ont ...
W4997
30.08.2012
Outback Pietà - Maarten Daudeij
WWW
Title: Outback Pietà Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2011 Concept: Taking the Pietà by Michelangelo out of the Saint Peter and placing it in the Australian Outback Theme: i.e. the duality between ...
Title: Outback Pietà Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2011 Concept: Taking the Pietà by Michelangelo out of the Saint Peter and placing it in the Australian Outback Theme: i.e. the duality between ...
W4820
07.08.2012
Pablo Jansana
WWW
People are normalized by depiction. It situates them in positions that, with the passing of time, become identities. Reality requires repetition in order for meaning to settle and artworks help to reinforce these positions. The supremacy of men over women ...
People are normalized by depiction. It situates them in positions that, with the passing of time, become identities. Reality requires repetition in order for meaning to settle and artworks help to reinforce these positions. The supremacy of men over women ...
W5149
24.09.2012
Blue Republic - Blue Republic
WWW
Does our feeling at home in our world have to be based on the long index of scaffoldings, enhancements, prosthetic devices, concepts, theories, and beliefs? Is there a way out, or are we trapped forever by our limitations? The yet unrealized project of Bl ...
Does our feeling at home in our world have to be based on the long index of scaffoldings, enhancements, prosthetic devices, concepts, theories, and beliefs? Is there a way out, or are we trapped forever by our limitations? The yet unrealized project of Bl ...
W4749
27.05.2011
Residual Geometries or the fable of the passenger, the cattle and, and the resource consumed. - Julain Santana
WWW
Public Space Intervention (The synopsis is in Spanish for now, but the English translation will be ready the next week) I have no budget or a potential sponsor for this artistic intervention. In essence this is a look into a public space in which rais ...
Public Space Intervention (The synopsis is in Spanish for now, but the English translation will be ready the next week) I have no budget or a potential sponsor for this artistic intervention. In essence this is a look into a public space in which rais ...
U9838
01.01.1985
Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg
Unbuilt Roads
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 5 3/4 x 4 in. (14.6 x 10.2 cm) ...
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 5 3/4 x 4 in. (14.6 x 10.2 cm) ...
W3895
20.05.2011
Editorial Sculpture: Divina Commedia  - Javier Toro Blum
WWW
The Divina Commedia triptych is a sculpture project, consisting in three ovoid metal cast pieces. Each piece has engraved in low relief (1.5mm) one part of the Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. With a 2.5mm typography ev ...
The Divina Commedia triptych is a sculpture project, consisting in three ovoid metal cast pieces. Each piece has engraved in low relief (1.5mm) one part of the Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. With a 2.5mm typography ev ...
W4319
24.05.2011
(Twitter Carrier Pigeon) - seth marshall weiner
WWW
(Social Networking Utilities and the Argument for Physical Space (Twitter Carrier Pigeon) As social networking utilities continue to provide open forums for users to communicate, protest and organize, they lack the necessity for a physical space. T ...
(Social Networking Utilities and the Argument for Physical Space (Twitter Carrier Pigeon) As social networking utilities continue to provide open forums for users to communicate, protest and organize, they lack the necessity for a physical space. T ...
W4418
25.05.2011
#GUIDE NO.1  - Oana Stoica & Vilhelem Jozsef Hunor
WWW
SUBJECT: What would have happened if, at 20 years old, you had gone to college for art instead of architecture? What would have happened if you had been a visual artist who expressed himself through two-dimensional video, objects, etc...? What if we offer ...
SUBJECT: What would have happened if, at 20 years old, you had gone to college for art instead of architecture? What would have happened if you had been a visual artist who expressed himself through two-dimensional video, objects, etc...? What if we offer ...
W5430
20.10.2012
VICTIMS OF SYMMETRY - Marcin Chomicki
WWW
VICTIMS OF SYMMETRY New cities are not established any more. The only way to build an ideal city is to be radical in means. The idea of the project is to trace an axis of symmetry and pull down half of the city. A mirror reflection is constructed to co ...
VICTIMS OF SYMMETRY New cities are not established any more. The only way to build an ideal city is to be radical in means. The idea of the project is to trace an axis of symmetry and pull down half of the city. A mirror reflection is constructed to co ...
W4807
07.08.2012
Wreck  - Boris Ondreička
WWW
sitting on the driver´s seat of the car wreck reading poems / singing lyrics aloud a couple having sex under that wreck 30 minutes 30 people listening / watching silently standing around and around midnight Wreck, Boris Ondreička ...
sitting on the driver´s seat of the car wreck reading poems / singing lyrics aloud a couple having sex under that wreck 30 minutes 30 people listening / watching silently standing around and around midnight Wreck, Boris Ondreička ...
W4065
23.05.2011
THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG - Rick Doble
WWW
A PROPOSAL BY RICK DOBLE FOR AN UNREALIZED ART PROJECT BASED ON PROCESSING THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG In 2003 I proposed an art project (see my submitted copy of my proposal to the Exploratorium in San Francisco ...
A PROPOSAL BY RICK DOBLE FOR AN UNREALIZED ART PROJECT BASED ON PROCESSING THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG In 2003 I proposed an art project (see my submitted copy of my proposal to the Exploratorium in San Francisco ...