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.

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

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

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

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

The pyramids...to be seen to be believed - Jonathan Monk

Aus: Katalog 'Kunst bleibt Kunst' - Hans Peter Feldman

Billboard - Jimmie Durham

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3888
20.05.2011
Self-Erasing Light Drawing - Aaron Bowles
WWW
“Self-Erasing Light Drawing” was part of a series of kinetic sculpture works that collectively explored the idea of ever-changing environments. Finding common ground with Mona Hatoum’s “Self-Erasing Drawing,” the piece replaced conventional art ...
“Self-Erasing Light Drawing” was part of a series of kinetic sculpture works that collectively explored the idea of ever-changing environments. Finding common ground with Mona Hatoum’s “Self-Erasing Drawing,” the piece replaced conventional art ...
W3892
20.05.2011
Garden REtreat - Kitty Gordon
WWW
Garden REtreat is an unrealized proposal for a temporary public art installation that addresses the issue of unused urban land. Its intention is to transform a vacant lot into a vibrant garden filled with organic forms made from recycled materials. ...
Garden REtreat is an unrealized proposal for a temporary public art installation that addresses the issue of unused urban land. Its intention is to transform a vacant lot into a vibrant garden filled with organic forms made from recycled materials. ...
W10404
19.04.2014
The 'Not at...' series: Installations that never were... - Claire Manning
WWW
This series of work is a set of installations proposed but not realised. It is an ongoing project aimed at freeing another piece -- 'In the shadow of her gaze n.02' -- from the constraints of its reliance with the wall. Each proposal is capable of bei ...
This series of work is a set of installations proposed but not realised. It is an ongoing project aimed at freeing another piece -- 'In the shadow of her gaze n.02' -- from the constraints of its reliance with the wall. Each proposal is capable of bei ...
W4826
07.08.2012
Fake It ‘Til You Make It - Sean Montgomery and Eric Simon
WWW
Sean Montgomery and Eric Simon - Fake It ‘Til You Make It Artist Biographies Omark van Pechstein Though van Pechstein has a genius-level intellect, an excellent memory and a profound gift for sculpture, for most of his life he worked as a janitor a ...
Sean Montgomery and Eric Simon - Fake It ‘Til You Make It Artist Biographies Omark van Pechstein Though van Pechstein has a genius-level intellect, an excellent memory and a profound gift for sculpture, for most of his life he worked as a janitor a ...
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 ...
W4092
23.05.2011
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000003 - Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000003: The Queen of England becomes part of an installation / performance in a gallery. I am sending you a selection of projects, all of them can be found here: http://stefanopasquini.net/content/unremain.html ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000003: The Queen of England becomes part of an installation / performance in a gallery. I am sending you a selection of projects, all of them can be found here: http://stefanopasquini.net/content/unremain.html ...
W3756
18.05.2011
Mevagissey Old Fishermen - Venessa Lagrand
WWW
Mevagissey Old Fishermen is a panel of 40 hand painted ceramic tiles (each tile 15 x 15 cm) reproduction of an old photograph - with artistic licence - of a scene of a small harbour in Cornwall GB around 1900 - see image attached and on www.artmajeur.com/ ...
Mevagissey Old Fishermen is a panel of 40 hand painted ceramic tiles (each tile 15 x 15 cm) reproduction of an old photograph - with artistic licence - of a scene of a small harbour in Cornwall GB around 1900 - see image attached and on www.artmajeur.com/ ...
W5071
05.09.2012
Daily Range - Matan Ashkenazy
WWW
DAILY RANGE. MATAN ASHKENAZY This body of work includes colour photographs done in Israel with an 8x10 plate camera between 2009-2012. The images deal with confined space within the natural environment aesthetically, politically and construct wise. A ...
DAILY RANGE. MATAN ASHKENAZY This body of work includes colour photographs done in Israel with an 8x10 plate camera between 2009-2012. The images deal with confined space within the natural environment aesthetically, politically and construct wise. A ...
W5075
05.09.2012
Nico Dockx
WWW
"Since I first met with Hans Ulrich Obrist on 15.03.2002 in his office at the Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris -talking together about new kinds of slowness…- we tried for almost 10 years to go and visit the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos at ...
"Since I first met with Hans Ulrich Obrist on 15.03.2002 in his office at the Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris -talking together about new kinds of slowness…- we tried for almost 10 years to go and visit the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos at ...
W5357
19.10.2012
The Ministry of Dehydration M.O.D. - Tom Hackett
WWW
The M.O.D was developed in response to the historical function of the Pump House Gallery , the adjacent Thames and the wider social, economic and political aspects which relate to major water courses. ...
The M.O.D was developed in response to the historical function of the Pump House Gallery , the adjacent Thames and the wider social, economic and political aspects which relate to major water courses. ...
W4454
25.05.2011
Skin and shelter!  - Resa Gartner
WWW
Skin and shelter! The contemporary city provides many of the existential layers necessary to accommodate an extremely fast paced society. Today, diverse environments intersect in the same spaces. Virtual and real existing places gather or loose in imp ...
Skin and shelter! The contemporary city provides many of the existential layers necessary to accommodate an extremely fast paced society. Today, diverse environments intersect in the same spaces. Virtual and real existing places gather or loose in imp ...
W3738
18.05.2011
The Body - Felippe Moraes
WWW
“The Body” is an installation in which a 1,80m x 0,5m pile of salt rests over a rustic wooden table. This work brings the discussion of the presence of an almost immaterial and spiritual body evoked by the size and by the symbolic character ...
“The Body” is an installation in which a 1,80m x 0,5m pile of salt rests over a rustic wooden table. This work brings the discussion of the presence of an almost immaterial and spiritual body evoked by the size and by the symbolic character ...
W10641
18.07.2014
The Last of All Maladies - Galería Perdida
WWW
We have produced a typeface (TrueType font) to redirect the character usage in language. Such as it is, each letter is supplanted by a non-sequitur phrase turning the original copy unintelligible, yet repositioned as concrete poetry. Thus, each piece of w ...
We have produced a typeface (TrueType font) to redirect the character usage in language. Such as it is, each letter is supplanted by a non-sequitur phrase turning the original copy unintelligible, yet repositioned as concrete poetry. Thus, each piece of w ...
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 ...
W4462
25.05.2011
"Because if it's not Love Then it's the Bomb, the Bomb... That will bring us together" - KARLOS MARTINEZ.B
WWW
"Because if it's not Love Then it's the Bomb, the Bomb... That will bring us together" <<ETA, deja alguna discoteca. Al bakala se la suda la independencia, al bakala se la suda el estado opresor. El pueblo quiere drogas, el pueblo quiere alcohol, ...
"Because if it's not Love Then it's the Bomb, the Bomb... That will bring us together" <<ETA, deja alguna discoteca. Al bakala se la suda la independencia, al bakala se la suda el estado opresor. El pueblo quiere drogas, el pueblo quiere alcohol, ...
W4344
24.05.2011
Proposal for installation March 2010 - John Kenny
WWW
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
W5345
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. ...
W3636
14.05.2011
Shadows, 1999 - Ingrid Lahti
WWW
Shadows, 1999: Two airplane silhouettes (15’ x 9’ and 10’ x 7’, respectively) will be hung between the airplane hangars at the former Sand Point Naval Air Station. The silhouettes, chosen from WWII airplane recognition manuals, are those of the WW ...
Shadows, 1999: Two airplane silhouettes (15’ x 9’ and 10’ x 7’, respectively) will be hung between the airplane hangars at the former Sand Point Naval Air Station. The silhouettes, chosen from WWII airplane recognition manuals, are those of the WW ...
W10569
12.06.2014
Roof Garden Proposal, Queen Street Station, Glasgow - Logan Sisley
WWW
This was a proposal in 2005 to plant a roof garden on a canopy connecting Queen Street Rail Station to Buchanan Street Subway Station. The idea was sent to various representatives in Scottish Rail and Strathclyde Passenger Transport. While it was deemed u ...
This was a proposal in 2005 to plant a roof garden on a canopy connecting Queen Street Rail Station to Buchanan Street Subway Station. The idea was sent to various representatives in Scottish Rail and Strathclyde Passenger Transport. While it was deemed u ...
W4503
25.05.2011
The Dead Brushes Society - Paulo Patrício
WWW
The Dead Brushes Society Unrealized project for an exhibition presenting old or/and unused brushes who belong to acclaimed contemporary artists. Brushes they love or with which they did major works (or at least, representative of they're career). That du ...
The Dead Brushes Society Unrealized project for an exhibition presenting old or/and unused brushes who belong to acclaimed contemporary artists. Brushes they love or with which they did major works (or at least, representative of they're career). That du ...
W4611
25.05.2011
Prototype of an opportunistic monument or a monument on call - Sylvie Boisseau
WWW
Prototype of an opportunistic monument or a monument on call (in memory of the Stasi* victims) The monument consist of an orthogonal concrete block of 200 x 150 x 50 cm which is embedded under the ground, It should be erected at places where the orig ...
Prototype of an opportunistic monument or a monument on call (in memory of the Stasi* victims) The monument consist of an orthogonal concrete block of 200 x 150 x 50 cm which is embedded under the ground, It should be erected at places where the orig ...
W3752
18.05.2011
Proposal for an Art-Science cooperation for solar lighting a Lebanese village - roula sorour
WWW
My project was a proposal to light up a village in Lebanon using solar power in cooperation with a local University. My proposal was hurried and could have been written better. I never did receive a reply to my proposal. From: Roula Sorour <r@roula ...
My project was a proposal to light up a village in Lebanon using solar power in cooperation with a local University. My proposal was hurried and could have been written better. I never did receive a reply to my proposal. From: Roula Sorour <r@roula ...
W3490
11.05.2011
The boundless forwarding parcel - Eric Van Hove
WWW
The boundless forwarding parcel This unrealized project would consist in having a postal strongbox being shipped throughout the DHL or FedEx international express mail services endlessly. After it reaches a destination, the box is automatically shipped ...
The boundless forwarding parcel This unrealized project would consist in having a postal strongbox being shipped throughout the DHL or FedEx international express mail services endlessly. After it reaches a destination, the box is automatically shipped ...
W4425
25.05.2011
Retrospection of Rejection: - Brianne Mackinnon
WWW
Retrospection of Rejection: A collaborative competition with fellow Brisbane artist, Anastasia Booth. Each artist apply's for as many exhibition opportunities as possible - collecting and archiving only the rejection responses to proposals. These document ...
Retrospection of Rejection: A collaborative competition with fellow Brisbane artist, Anastasia Booth. Each artist apply's for as many exhibition opportunities as possible - collecting and archiving only the rejection responses to proposals. These document ...
W4828
07.08.2012
Anne Among the Living - Line Kallmayer
WWW
I intended to make a film, Anne Among The Living. I worked on it for a year and a half. We were very advanced in preproduction with many people involved, but the money could not be raised. The funders found it too experimental, too ambitious and risky. ...
I intended to make a film, Anne Among The Living. I worked on it for a year and a half. We were very advanced in preproduction with many people involved, but the money could not be raised. The funders found it too experimental, too ambitious and risky. ...
W4234
24.05.2011
Elise Lammer
WWW
This work is an homage to the lost artwork by John Baldessari "Untitled (after Palm Tree (for Charlemagne)" 1975. This unrealized project aims to collect similar postcards as the ones displayed in Peter Kirby's documentary and recreate Baldessari's lost ...
This work is an homage to the lost artwork by John Baldessari "Untitled (after Palm Tree (for Charlemagne)" 1975. This unrealized project aims to collect similar postcards as the ones displayed in Peter Kirby's documentary and recreate Baldessari's lost ...