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.

Time Magazine Cover - Robert Rauschenberg

Monumento all'agricoltura 1969-70 - Alighiero Boetti

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

Aguapracasa - Gabriel Orozco

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

Art and Ourselves: A Proposal for the city of Nordhorn - Allen Rupperssberg

Dog Jaw Monument - A Futurist Tele-introject - Leon Golub

Jake and Dinos Chapman's five proposals for an empty plinth situated on central londons trafalgar square - Jake and Dinos Chapman

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4711
26.05.2011
The Intellectual Refuge(e) Camp – 21 tents for the 21st Century - Patrick Meagher & WORK.ac
WWW
Dear M. Buergel, Please find enclosed our proposal ‘The Intellectual Refuge(e) Camp – 21 tents for the 21st Century’, which your Leitmotifs for Documenta 12 inspired. Feeling immediately akin to your text, the Leitmotifs resonated with idea ...
Dear M. Buergel, Please find enclosed our proposal ‘The Intellectual Refuge(e) Camp – 21 tents for the 21st Century’, which your Leitmotifs for Documenta 12 inspired. Feeling immediately akin to your text, the Leitmotifs resonated with idea ...
W5124
18.09.2012
Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid - Michael Arata
WWW
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
W3986
21.05.2011
EMOTIONAL SPACE - sculptor PhD, Aili Vahtrapuu, disainer Janika Vesberg
WWW
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
W4228
24.05.2011
Sacred Sister - Bettina WitteVeen
WWW
Sacred Sister by Bettina WitteVeen GLOSSARY AMAZONS: Society of women warriors whose kingdom was believed to be to the north of the civilized world and who tolerated men only as servants or as father of female children. They cut off one breast i ...
Sacred Sister by Bettina WitteVeen GLOSSARY AMAZONS: Society of women warriors whose kingdom was believed to be to the north of the civilized world and who tolerated men only as servants or as father of female children. They cut off one breast i ...
W3838
19.05.2011
Nicole Mortiboys
WWW
The images submitted to AUP are pages taken from a book on how to draw cartoons. (The title of the book has been forgotten). The book was found at Central Library, whilst studying on the MA fine Art course at, Birmingham City University, Margaret S ...
The images submitted to AUP are pages taken from a book on how to draw cartoons. (The title of the book has been forgotten). The book was found at Central Library, whilst studying on the MA fine Art course at, Birmingham City University, Margaret S ...
W4573
25.05.2011
Emily Puthoff
WWW
W4825
07.08.2012
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice - Andrea Geyer
WWW
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
W4689
26.05.2011
UNSOLICITED - Laszlo Marsch
WWW
UNSOLICITED Dear H.U.O. and G.T., I own a copy of "Unbuild Roads". It is exciting that "residuals" and "failures" see the daylight. Going through the book and reading the intro it is obvious that most of the projects, even if unrealized, were based on c ...
UNSOLICITED Dear H.U.O. and G.T., I own a copy of "Unbuild Roads". It is exciting that "residuals" and "failures" see the daylight. Going through the book and reading the intro it is obvious that most of the projects, even if unrealized, were based on c ...
W4693
26.05.2011
a flower every day - Nina Meledandri
WWW
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
W5363
19.10.2012
A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays - Inbal Strauss
WWW
These sketches for a sculpture titled A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays, remain as a two dimensional proposal for the time being. As a sculptor, I use investigative sketching as a creative development tool for a sculpture that will event ...
These sketches for a sculpture titled A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays, remain as a two dimensional proposal for the time being. As a sculptor, I use investigative sketching as a creative development tool for a sculpture that will event ...
W4163
23.05.2011
iaround - Anna Martinou
WWW
iaround provides an interactive platform for artists, groups and collectives who commission work within the urban landscape. The platform serves both as documentation and a social media tool as it integrates the process iaround: http://www.iaround.co ...
iaround provides an interactive platform for artists, groups and collectives who commission work within the urban landscape. The platform serves both as documentation and a social media tool as it integrates the process iaround: http://www.iaround.co ...
W3747
18.05.2011
Modes of visibility - Nini Palavandishvili
WWW
Often contemporary exhibition audience complain not to understand art and especially so-called conceptual art. This is specially problematic issue in Georgia, where general audience is not used to contemporary art. They ask themselves about the meaning of ...
Often contemporary exhibition audience complain not to understand art and especially so-called conceptual art. This is specially problematic issue in Georgia, where general audience is not used to contemporary art. They ask themselves about the meaning of ...
W4079
23.05.2011
O.K & K.O Bank - O.K & K.O Bank
WWW
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
W4121
23.05.2011
Connectivity II - Sara Schnadt
WWW
Sara Schnadt Connectivity II - Project Concept In this revolutionary moment, online tools are as dynamic as their implications for fundamentally changing information reception. As a technologist who also develops online artist resources, I am part of a na ...
Sara Schnadt Connectivity II - Project Concept In this revolutionary moment, online tools are as dynamic as their implications for fundamentally changing information reception. As a technologist who also develops online artist resources, I am part of a na ...
W4080
23.05.2011
Photorécepteurs - Kasia Ozga
WWW
Description du Projet – Photorécepteurs Pour le projet participatif, Photorécepteurs, je souhaite travailler sur des images en grand format des yeux des habitants de la Ville de _________. Un photorécepteur peut désigner un neurone sensoriel sens ...
Description du Projet – Photorécepteurs Pour le projet participatif, Photorécepteurs, je souhaite travailler sur des images en grand format des yeux des habitants de la Ville de _________. Un photorécepteur peut désigner un neurone sensoriel sens ...
W4453
25.05.2011
Myopian fields - Stephanie Gerner
WWW
Myopian fields , proposal (2010) This exhibition uses the notion of a virtual landscape as its structural foundation, materialised as a small theatre set or abstract film studio, playing with our conceptions of the natural and the man-made, the environ ...
Myopian fields , proposal (2010) This exhibition uses the notion of a virtual landscape as its structural foundation, materialised as a small theatre set or abstract film studio, playing with our conceptions of the natural and the man-made, the environ ...
W4170
24.05.2011
BASIC STRATEGIES - Ana Sucena, Claudia Costa, Pedro Guerra
WWW
BASIC STRATEGIES Our project aims the recognition of how natural, historic, and community cycles work, and uses these aspects to emphasize our design and the technical solutions we have chosen. The house is positioned on the lot in a way that allows e ...
BASIC STRATEGIES Our project aims the recognition of how natural, historic, and community cycles work, and uses these aspects to emphasize our design and the technical solutions we have chosen. The house is positioned on the lot in a way that allows e ...
W4482
25.05.2011
Frontispiece  - Paul Landon
WWW
Frontispiece An unrealised project by Paul Landon On 1 August 1953, under Reorganization Plan No. 8, the United States Information Agency (USIA) was created as an independent organization within the Executive Branch responsible for the U.S. governmentʼ ...
Frontispiece An unrealised project by Paul Landon On 1 August 1953, under Reorganization Plan No. 8, the United States Information Agency (USIA) was created as an independent organization within the Executive Branch responsible for the U.S. governmentʼ ...
W4813
07.08.2012
Guerrilla Moustaches - Carolyn McKay
WWW
Unrealized Project- Guerrilla Moustaches Earlier this year I travelled from Sydney to Berlin and started a guerrilla moustache campaign on areas of graffiti and street posters. Unfortunately, many of the moustaches I had brought from Australia had lost ...
Unrealized Project- Guerrilla Moustaches Earlier this year I travelled from Sydney to Berlin and started a guerrilla moustache campaign on areas of graffiti and street posters. Unfortunately, many of the moustaches I had brought from Australia had lost ...
W3989
21.05.2011
Ordinary Fight Nights - Industry of the Ordinary
WWW
Industry of the Ordinary propose to stage Industry of the Ordinary Fight Nights. The art world is rife with petty enmities and personal disagreements. What better way to sort these out once and for all than to offer protagonists (antagonists) the opportun ...
Industry of the Ordinary propose to stage Industry of the Ordinary Fight Nights. The art world is rife with petty enmities and personal disagreements. What better way to sort these out once and for all than to offer protagonists (antagonists) the opportun ...
W5438
20.10.2012
Smuggling Pomegranate Pavilion (SPP) - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
W5347
18.10.2012
Lisa Bateman
WWW
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
W3906
20.05.2011
Michael Hanna
WWW
W3783
18.05.2011
Eileen Neff
WWW
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
W3992
21.05.2011
Ranjit Sidhu
WWW
In a fierce contest in 1961, I was commissioned to create drawings based on “Devotion to Duty”, “Dignity of Labour” and, “Work is Worship” – the themes floated by 505 Command Workshop, Ministry of Defense, Govt. of India for eight large wall ...
In a fierce contest in 1961, I was commissioned to create drawings based on “Devotion to Duty”, “Dignity of Labour” and, “Work is Worship” – the themes floated by 505 Command Workshop, Ministry of Defense, Govt. of India for eight large wall ...
W4008
22.05.2011
YOU WILL BE FAMOUS - Alessandro Rolandi
WWW
Interactive-Installation 1) At the height of at least 5th or 6th floor of a public art space (museum or foundation) it will be installed a door opening on the void. The door must be red and in wood, liek the door leading to a room in a house. Actuall ...
Interactive-Installation 1) At the height of at least 5th or 6th floor of a public art space (museum or foundation) it will be installed a door opening on the void. The door must be red and in wood, liek the door leading to a room in a house. Actuall ...