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.

Milan House (AC/DC & Joy Division) - Liam Gillick

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

The World Record - General Idea

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

Broadway Musicals - Christian Marclay

Placid Earth: A Project for the Meeting of Millennia - Cai Guo Quiang

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken

Engel-Detektor - Jakob Gautel & Jason Karaïndros

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4171
24.05.2011
Mitya Nesterov
WWW
Project with a work title ZOO, series of hand printed color photographs installed inside animal and bird cages ...
Project with a work title ZOO, series of hand printed color photographs installed inside animal and bird cages ...
W4895
10.08.2012
CayucoTours - Ralph Kistler
WWW
Project Name: CayucoTours Artist: Ralph Kistler Email: check-in@subtours.com Webpage: http://www.subtours.com CayucoTours was a selected project for the 3.Biennale of the Canary Islands that ...
Project Name: CayucoTours Artist: Ralph Kistler Email: check-in@subtours.com Webpage: http://www.subtours.com CayucoTours was a selected project for the 3.Biennale of the Canary Islands that ...
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 ...
W3678
15.05.2011
The Bardo Board Game Project - barbara russell
WWW
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
W3844
19.05.2011
I want to do the laundry; or rather I want to finish the laundry - Svava Thordis Juliusson
WWW
TO: Agency of Unrealized Projects I want to do the laundry; or rather I want to finish the laundry. It is a project that poses vague theoretical and aesthetic questions, but to explore possible ways to put an end to this task could forever change the t ...
TO: Agency of Unrealized Projects I want to do the laundry; or rather I want to finish the laundry. It is a project that poses vague theoretical and aesthetic questions, but to explore possible ways to put an end to this task could forever change the t ...
W4508
25.05.2011
American Flag Kits - Paula Stuttman
WWW
American Flag Kits During the summer of 1998 I completed 20 American Flag Kits. What fascinates me about flags (and this goes for any country’s flag) is the object itself is nothing but colored cloth arranged into a snappy design. It is human investm ...
American Flag Kits During the summer of 1998 I completed 20 American Flag Kits. What fascinates me about flags (and this goes for any country’s flag) is the object itself is nothing but colored cloth arranged into a snappy design. It is human investm ...
W4868
09.08.2012
Jacqueline Van der Venne
WWW
Jacqueline van der Venne has studied both graphic and advertising design, illustrative arts, and photography. In 1987, she graduated from the Art Academy in Maastricht, and has since seen several years of steady employment in the field of graphic arts and ...
Jacqueline van der Venne has studied both graphic and advertising design, illustrative arts, and photography. In 1987, she graduated from the Art Academy in Maastricht, and has since seen several years of steady employment in the field of graphic arts and ...
W3496
11.05.2011
Greenwich South - DeWitt Godfrey
WWW
Greenwich South commissioned by The Alliance for Downtown New York to participate in a visioning study that presents ways to transform the 23 blocks south of the World Trade Center—known as Greenwich South. The study was led by Architecture Research ...
Greenwich South commissioned by The Alliance for Downtown New York to participate in a visioning study that presents ways to transform the 23 blocks south of the World Trade Center—known as Greenwich South. The study was led by Architecture Research ...
W5133
19.09.2012
Lost Heritage in Dark Museum  - Yochai Avrahami
WWW
Lost Heritage in Dark Museum - Yochai Avrahami The project suggests installation of few displays, that uses "left overs" of various practices of museology. these practices where inspired by research, observing, interviews and other methods in museums an ...
Lost Heritage in Dark Museum - Yochai Avrahami The project suggests installation of few displays, that uses "left overs" of various practices of museology. these practices where inspired by research, observing, interviews and other methods in museums an ...
W4666
25.05.2011
Carlos Lérias
WWW
The fragments presented here by the Migratory Museum, are the parts of a live cast mask of my face. Moved on in one hand by the incessant obsession with disappearance, invisibility, forgetfulness and nomadism, and on the other hand by the museum’s troub ...
The fragments presented here by the Migratory Museum, are the parts of a live cast mask of my face. Moved on in one hand by the incessant obsession with disappearance, invisibility, forgetfulness and nomadism, and on the other hand by the museum’s troub ...
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 ...
W3614
13.05.2011
Thanasis Chondros & Alexandra Katsiani
WWW
In July 1981, and again in February 1989, we proposed to friends of ours and other artists and to everyone it may concern-through texts in the magazines “Sin kai Plin” and “To Bitoni”, to found a football team. We made this proposal because of ...
In July 1981, and again in February 1989, we proposed to friends of ours and other artists and to everyone it may concern-through texts in the magazines “Sin kai Plin” and “To Bitoni”, to found a football team. We made this proposal because of ...
W4221
24.05.2011
alhena
WWW
W4916
15.08.2012
Phobos self-degradation  - Toby Huddlestone
WWW
Toby Huddlestone Unrealised Proposal Phobos self-degradation – the artist sends a form of self-degrading archival document (time-capsule) to the Mars moon Phobos. Stickney crater, Phobos. Imaged by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, March 23, 2008. ...
Toby Huddlestone Unrealised Proposal Phobos self-degradation – the artist sends a form of self-degrading archival document (time-capsule) to the Mars moon Phobos. Stickney crater, Phobos. Imaged by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, March 23, 2008. ...
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 ...
U9973
23.01.1993
Brücke Wein-Kanal Arch. Hermann Czech, Wein - Franz West
Unbuilt Roads
Denen, die in dieselben Flüsse steigen, fließen immer neue Wasser zu , und (immer neue) Seelen entsteigen der Feuchtigkeit. Heraklit, Fragment 12[1] Linkes Brückenauflager Ansicht Nordwest M 1:33 ...
Denen, die in dieselben Flüsse steigen, fließen immer neue Wasser zu , und (immer neue) Seelen entsteigen der Feuchtigkeit. Heraklit, Fragment 12[1] Linkes Brückenauflager Ansicht Nordwest M 1:33 ...
W4543
25.05.2011
TO/HERE. moving an insignificant signal. - Paula Massarutti
WWW
TO/HERE. moving an insignificant signal. [mass performance + object exhibition + production registers]. Suplicantes [Supplicants] – historical and symbolic context [Las Precolombinas] Pre- Columbian images known as the suplicantes, [see image 1] ...
TO/HERE. moving an insignificant signal. [mass performance + object exhibition + production registers]. Suplicantes [Supplicants] – historical and symbolic context [Las Precolombinas] Pre- Columbian images known as the suplicantes, [see image 1] ...
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 ...
W4096
23.05.2011
Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
W5013
30.08.2012
Children of the Enemy - Edward Walsh
WWW
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
W5087
10.09.2012
Theâtre (theatre) - Vincent Roumagnac / Aurélie Pétrel / le vrac
WWW
In April 2012 Roumagnac gets from the directors of L!Elysée (theatre – Lyon, France) to proceed the whitening of their whole theatre (stage + audience space). Through this whitening Roumagnac aims to «"reveal"» the illusion of the disappearence of th ...
In April 2012 Roumagnac gets from the directors of L!Elysée (theatre – Lyon, France) to proceed the whitening of their whole theatre (stage + audience space). Through this whitening Roumagnac aims to «"reveal"» the illusion of the disappearence of th ...
W4471
25.05.2011
Marco Montiel-Soto
WWW
Berlín no está en la orilla del mar, esta enredada entre los canales del río Spree y de numerosos lagos a los alrededores, una superficie en movimiento perfecta para un nuevo proyecto de vivienda, un modelo de planificación urbana que sirve para los r ...
Berlín no está en la orilla del mar, esta enredada entre los canales del río Spree y de numerosos lagos a los alrededores, una superficie en movimiento perfecta para un nuevo proyecto de vivienda, un modelo de planificación urbana que sirve para los r ...
W3654
15.05.2011
nigal goodship
WWW
They say, art no longer produces beauty, she produces meaning. I say, one cannot paint a picture or make an image of a woman and not deal with the concept of beauty. Marlene Dumas Assignment 5fp001 Contemporary photographic practice, The Venus project ...
They say, art no longer produces beauty, she produces meaning. I say, one cannot paint a picture or make an image of a woman and not deal with the concept of beauty. Marlene Dumas Assignment 5fp001 Contemporary photographic practice, The Venus project ...
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 ...
W4670
26.05.2011
Translating Missed Time  - April Lamm and Franz Stauffenberg
WWW
Translating Missed Time In Rococo England, 1751, the British usurped its citizens of 11 days. That is, September 3 became September 14th with the wave of a parliamentary wand. Riots ensued, placards were held high in the streets proclaiming “Give u ...
Translating Missed Time In Rococo England, 1751, the British usurped its citizens of 11 days. That is, September 3 became September 14th with the wave of a parliamentary wand. Riots ensued, placards were held high in the streets proclaiming “Give u ...
W4457
25.05.2011
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary  - Suwan Laimanee
WWW
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary Bamboo Treehouse is a site-specific performance intended to provide an inspirational example of sustainable living to both the local and global population alike. The project is an ongoing interactive experiment, explorin ...
Bamboo Treehouse Project summary Bamboo Treehouse is a site-specific performance intended to provide an inspirational example of sustainable living to both the local and global population alike. The project is an ongoing interactive experiment, explorin ...