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.

NON REALIZED PROJECTS - Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles

Projekt für die Landschaft des Mont-de-Sene (Burgund) im Rahmen eines öffentlichen Auftrags des französischen Kultusministeriums - Markus Raetz

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George

Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

KEEPING IN TOUCH - Allan Kaprow

Temple of the western buddha (1971 Kathmedu) - Herman de Vries

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4535
25.05.2011
A simple videos - Zuzanna Janin
WWW
A simple videos - full of emotions and notice gallery of fantastic masterpieces only described by those who can talk about art from the heart and with the deep knowledge... Until now interviews with a.i.: Anda Rottenberg, Hanna Wroblewska, Andrzej Tu ...
A simple videos - full of emotions and notice gallery of fantastic masterpieces only described by those who can talk about art from the heart and with the deep knowledge... Until now interviews with a.i.: Anda Rottenberg, Hanna Wroblewska, Andrzej Tu ...
W4377
25.05.2011
Judith Barry
WWW
Display: Museum of Signs, 1980 Installation proposal. Shopping Mall, Palo Alto, California 1980Mnemonic devices were used to transform a working-class shopping mall into a memory palace. The use of contemporary display techniques produces numerous desi ...
Display: Museum of Signs, 1980 Installation proposal. Shopping Mall, Palo Alto, California 1980Mnemonic devices were used to transform a working-class shopping mall into a memory palace. The use of contemporary display techniques produces numerous desi ...
W3715
17.05.2011
Deck Chair Gateway
 Proposal
 for 
Broward 
County, 
FL
 - Mags Harries & Lajos Héder
WWW
Increasingly, large‐scale buildings isolate surrounding neighborhoods from Broward County’s coast. An iconic gateway could reconnect the community to the water. DeckChair Gateway will rise up 14 Ft, offering a shaded passageway to the beach and a land ...
Increasingly, large‐scale buildings isolate surrounding neighborhoods from Broward County’s coast. An iconic gateway could reconnect the community to the water. DeckChair Gateway will rise up 14 Ft, offering a shaded passageway to the beach and a land ...
W4665
25.05.2011
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi - MomenTech
WWW
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com MomenTech’s Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi ("Symphony of the Cosmos No. 1: Master of the Game") is a proposed interactive, immersive, site-sp ...
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com MomenTech’s Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi ("Symphony of the Cosmos No. 1: Master of the Game") is a proposed interactive, immersive, site-sp ...
W4811
07.08.2012
Detachment - Amira Parree
WWW
Hand made latex dress sewed by hand for 100 hours within 10 days, partly burnd. The dress is one piece of 6 yards long material, 2 dresses in one piece. One side is empty and the other side is worn by me. Detachment, the title expresses my willingne ...
Hand made latex dress sewed by hand for 100 hours within 10 days, partly burnd. The dress is one piece of 6 yards long material, 2 dresses in one piece. One side is empty and the other side is worn by me. Detachment, the title expresses my willingne ...
W4495
25.05.2011
The Crystal Pavilion - Walker and Walker
WWW
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
W4390
25.05.2011
Isabelle Desjeux
WWW
The project was to collect failed projects from scientists. It consisted of me interviewing scientists about anything that hadn't worked or couldn't get published, couldn't get used... I thought I would make a book from each of the scientists' story... ...
The project was to collect failed projects from scientists. It consisted of me interviewing scientists about anything that hadn't worked or couldn't get published, couldn't get used... I thought I would make a book from each of the scientists' story... ...
W5156
24.09.2012
Packet Switching - Joelle Dietrick + Owen Mundy
WWW
Packet Switching is an ongoing body of work by Joelle Dietrick and Owen Mundy that visualizes architecture as fragments affected by economic and communications systems. A series of related prints and animations are available for the exhibition. ...
Packet Switching is an ongoing body of work by Joelle Dietrick and Owen Mundy that visualizes architecture as fragments affected by economic and communications systems. A series of related prints and animations are available for the exhibition. ...
W4579
25.05.2011
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT - Annita Koutsonanou | Evy Tsolaki | Maria Spaniola
WWW
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT …I thought of a maze of mazes, of a sinuous, ever growing maze which would take in both past and future and would somehow involve the stars [..]. I thought that a man might be an enemy of other men, of the different moment of other ...
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT …I thought of a maze of mazes, of a sinuous, ever growing maze which would take in both past and future and would somehow involve the stars [..]. I thought that a man might be an enemy of other men, of the different moment of other ...
W5459
20.10.2012
Temporary Projection Installations for the Survivors of Atrocities. - Gavin Halm
WWW
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
W4183
24.05.2011
Green Times Square - Holly Tempo
WWW
Green Times Square Holly Tempo In late 2007, I was invited to participate in Green-er Sessions: Sketching Solutions to Climate Change, an exhibition in which artists, scientists and architects presented solutions for climate change. I submitted a pr ...
Green Times Square Holly Tempo In late 2007, I was invited to participate in Green-er Sessions: Sketching Solutions to Climate Change, an exhibition in which artists, scientists and architects presented solutions for climate change. I submitted a pr ...
W4402
25.05.2011
"Things We Never Did" - Claus Prokop
WWW
"Things We Never Did" Aware of the fact that showing unrealized work is a step towards realization I am submitting two collections of material separated into software and hardware. Both of them are part of a bigger, absolutely unsystematic, collection ...
"Things We Never Did" Aware of the fact that showing unrealized work is a step towards realization I am submitting two collections of material separated into software and hardware. Both of them are part of a bigger, absolutely unsystematic, collection ...
W5094
11.09.2012
Circulatory System  - Chloë Bass
WWW
Chloë Bass CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CIRCULATORY SYSTEM is an unrealized performance project that was never completed due to my partner’s concern for my health. In general, I am able to move forward with my work regardless of outside concern, but in this ...
Chloë Bass CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CIRCULATORY SYSTEM is an unrealized performance project that was never completed due to my partner’s concern for my health. In general, I am able to move forward with my work regardless of outside concern, but in this ...
W3671
15.05.2011
Before The Gates Of Our Vacant Future - Joseph Shaeffer
WWW
Project initially proposed for the Garage Center For Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Russia which is housed in the historic Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage designed by Konstantin Melnikov in 1926. “Before the gates of our vacant future.” Thus reads the ope ...
Project initially proposed for the Garage Center For Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Russia which is housed in the historic Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage designed by Konstantin Melnikov in 1926. “Before the gates of our vacant future.” Thus reads the ope ...
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 ...
U9538
01.01.1996
The Clock - Ayse Erkmen
Unbuilt Roads
The location is Domplatz, Münster. The Place is the reconstructed wall at the west wing of the Dome. This was the previous entrance of the Dome before it was destroyed in the way. It does not have an entrance any more but has twelve large windows forming ...
The location is Domplatz, Münster. The Place is the reconstructed wall at the west wing of the Dome. This was the previous entrance of the Dome before it was destroyed in the way. It does not have an entrance any more but has twelve large windows forming ...
W3559
12.05.2011
David Detrich
WWW
My current project involves coring through art periodicals with the intent to obscure the distinctions between the fashion industry and the art world. The periodical ArtForum is a "container" of such dichotomies. I've constructed a tool that cores through ...
My current project involves coring through art periodicals with the intent to obscure the distinctions between the fashion industry and the art world. The periodical ArtForum is a "container" of such dichotomies. I've constructed a tool that cores through ...
U9712
14.11.1992
Memorial - Ilya Kabakov
Unbuilt Roads
Kabakov "MEMORIAL" Short description of the project The Concept of the Project "Memorial" The Russian revolution which established the "era of Socialism" is considered to be a most important event of the twentieth century. The end of ...
Kabakov "MEMORIAL" Short description of the project The Concept of the Project "Memorial" The Russian revolution which established the "era of Socialism" is considered to be a most important event of the twentieth century. The end of ...
W3730
18.05.2011
“Priceless”, a proposal - Ama Saru Hsiao Chen
WWW
A proposal for an art fair. The difference between collections initiated through private sector and public fund raises concern of artworks value. As when artwork is purchased by a collector, it automatically obtains market value for future economic act ...
A proposal for an art fair. The difference between collections initiated through private sector and public fund raises concern of artworks value. As when artwork is purchased by a collector, it automatically obtains market value for future economic act ...
W3899
20.05.2011
SIN TITULO - Daniela Huerta
WWW
SIN TITULO Nails, wall, dust and red thread. Dimensions variable 2010 This is a project that perhaps was never intended to be realized. It was rather an action and a documentation of it. The beginning and the end is the wall, as it works as a state ...
SIN TITULO Nails, wall, dust and red thread. Dimensions variable 2010 This is a project that perhaps was never intended to be realized. It was rather an action and a documentation of it. The beginning and the end is the wall, as it works as a state ...
W4385
25.05.2011
un... - Bettina Bruder
WWW
un... by Bettina Bruder un... is an unrealized project from a series of experiments on the topic of ‘nothing’. un... got never realized until the call for submission of unrealized projects gave space to it. un... and ‘nothing’ are part of my u ...
un... by Bettina Bruder un... is an unrealized project from a series of experiments on the topic of ‘nothing’. un... got never realized until the call for submission of unrealized projects gave space to it. un... and ‘nothing’ are part of my u ...
W5465
21.10.2012
Letters from the Earth - Joe Cantrell
WWW
a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our ...
a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our ...
W4607
25.05.2011
Latent Online gallery of unrealised art works launched  - Blaithin Quinn - Latent
WWW
Latent Online gallery of unrealised art works launched Press Release: Dublin, Ireland; 25 May 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Latent is a curated, web-based gallery that reveals the often forgotten, postponed or edited ideas of unrealised art works. ...
Latent Online gallery of unrealised art works launched Press Release: Dublin, Ireland; 25 May 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Latent is a curated, web-based gallery that reveals the often forgotten, postponed or edited ideas of unrealised art works. ...
W3484
11.05.2011
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) - Hannes Bend
WWW
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) By Hannes Bend Cenotaph/Golden Mattress (working title), will be a life-size candy cast golden mattress. The sculpture will be left unvarnished, inviting the viewers to lick the vertically standing piece. Pla ...
Cenotaph /Golden Matress (working title) By Hannes Bend Cenotaph/Golden Mattress (working title), will be a life-size candy cast golden mattress. The sculpture will be left unvarnished, inviting the viewers to lick the vertically standing piece. Pla ...
W5235
09.10.2012
Two Years’ Untouched Garden  - WOOLOO
WWW
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
W5491
26.10.2012
AUDIOLABIA - Karen Hibbard
WWW
Arist Book Proposal by Karen Hibbard, Women’s Studio Workshop, 2011. The title merges the words ‘audio’ and ‘labia’. Audio is any refers to any representation of sound. Labium (plural labia) is a Latin‐derived term meaning "Lip".The labia are ...
Arist Book Proposal by Karen Hibbard, Women’s Studio Workshop, 2011. The title merges the words ‘audio’ and ‘labia’. Audio is any refers to any representation of sound. Labium (plural labia) is a Latin‐derived term meaning "Lip".The labia are ...