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

PROPOSALl + VOORSTEL - Guillame Bijl

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

Invitation Space No.1 - Tania Mouraud

Project pour le parc de sculpture de Vassiviére - Paul-Armand Gette

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

AUSSICHTSTURM, HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS), SCHWIMMBECKEN, FREIE FAHRT - Maria Eichhorn

Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
U9492
01.01.1996
"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan
Unbuilt Roads
1996 progetto "ilana, I love you" per la galleria Stefano Basilico di New York. Molte persone che conoscono Stefano Basilica per la sua galleria, conoscono anche che Stefano e' stato collaboratore per circa dieci anni alla galleria Sonnabend. Questo ...
1996 progetto "ilana, I love you" per la galleria Stefano Basilico di New York. Molte persone che conoscono Stefano Basilica per la sua galleria, conoscono anche che Stefano e' stato collaboratore per circa dieci anni alla galleria Sonnabend. Questo ...
W4636
25.05.2011
C.Q - Ioanna Pantazopoulou
WWW
C.Q., 2010 honey jars, cosmetic containers, lipsticks, glue, mirror C.Q. is a maquette study for a fantastical monument, a ‘Disney Palace on acid’, a tribute to Beauty. It is an arrangement of cosmetics that are used as pigments to add tones to ...
C.Q., 2010 honey jars, cosmetic containers, lipsticks, glue, mirror C.Q. is a maquette study for a fantastical monument, a ‘Disney Palace on acid’, a tribute to Beauty. It is an arrangement of cosmetics that are used as pigments to add tones to ...
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. ...
W5341
18.10.2012
Peter Harris
WWW
2 A4 pencil drawings from the series 'Art Dads' for an unrealisable film. ART DADS My unrealisable idea would be to go back in time and be the son of different ‘art dads’. This would consist of me being filmed doing various father and son acti ...
2 A4 pencil drawings from the series 'Art Dads' for an unrealisable film. ART DADS My unrealisable idea would be to go back in time and be the son of different ‘art dads’. This would consist of me being filmed doing various father and son acti ...
U9823
13.02.1997
Project tor the Veterans Administration Hospital--Bay Pines, Florida. - Robert Morris
Unbuilt Roads
13 Feb 97 Att: Hans Ulrich Obrist From: R. Morris (fax:914-255-2781) Re: Unbuilt Roads Dear Hans Ulrich Obrist, Thanks for you recent fax inviting me to participate in your project. I send along some information about a project that might be ...
13 Feb 97 Att: Hans Ulrich Obrist From: R. Morris (fax:914-255-2781) Re: Unbuilt Roads Dear Hans Ulrich Obrist, Thanks for you recent fax inviting me to participate in your project. I send along some information about a project that might be ...
W4355
25.05.2011
Veil of Ignorance - James Bae
WWW
Veil of Ignorance The proposal is to hold a weekly discourse on the site of the now demolished Stadtschloß and Palast der Republik. The chosen site is heavily charged with history, having been the seat of the Brandenburg Electors, Prussian Kings, and ...
Veil of Ignorance The proposal is to hold a weekly discourse on the site of the now demolished Stadtschloß and Palast der Republik. The chosen site is heavily charged with history, having been the seat of the Brandenburg Electors, Prussian Kings, and ...
W3498
11.05.2011
John Ryan
WWW
A meek critique of ambiguous language used in art criticism and statements, I created a list of advice for artists, composed of cut outs from horoscopes. ...
A meek critique of ambiguous language used in art criticism and statements, I created a list of advice for artists, composed of cut outs from horoscopes. ...
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. ...
W3545
12.05.2011
GOLDEN - Deanne Butterworth
WWW
GOLDEN My investigations in dance stem from how an audience views a dancing body through their construction of narrative. GOLDEN will setup parameters for a narrative to exist in, but will not necessarily decide what the narrative shall be. It is not ...
GOLDEN My investigations in dance stem from how an audience views a dancing body through their construction of narrative. GOLDEN will setup parameters for a narrative to exist in, but will not necessarily decide what the narrative shall be. It is not ...
W5091
10.09.2012
Hortus d'Epe - Harald Schole
WWW
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...
W4039
22.05.2011
Transcendence , 2010 - Shuli Sade
WWW
Transcendence , 2010, by Shuli Sadé 60 photographic panels of 20 x 20 Inches each, printed on duraclear, fused glass/acrylic, natural light/ suspended to create moving shadows “Tran.scen.dence completes a cycle of the envisioned and the built. It ...
Transcendence , 2010, by Shuli Sadé 60 photographic panels of 20 x 20 Inches each, printed on duraclear, fused glass/acrylic, natural light/ suspended to create moving shadows “Tran.scen.dence completes a cycle of the envisioned and the built. It ...
W10481
28.04.2014
The Geese of Feliferhof - Esther Shalev-Gerz with Jochen Gerz
WWW
Graz, Austria In 1996, Esther Shalev-Gerz and Jochen Gerz won an international competition launched by the Austrian government to pay tribute to those who opposed the Nazi regime. The artists proposed installing four white flags carrying red inscriptio ...
Graz, Austria In 1996, Esther Shalev-Gerz and Jochen Gerz won an international competition launched by the Austrian government to pay tribute to those who opposed the Nazi regime. The artists proposed installing four white flags carrying red inscriptio ...
W10503
05.05.2014
Brookside Re-seen - Nicky Hamlyn
WWW
The project is a film that would have been made in Brookside Close, Liverpool, the actually existing cul-de-sac of houses in which the long-running TV soap opera 'Brookside' (1982 - 2003) was filmed and set. My plan was to go to Brookside Close and make a ...
The project is a film that would have been made in Brookside Close, Liverpool, the actually existing cul-de-sac of houses in which the long-running TV soap opera 'Brookside' (1982 - 2003) was filmed and set. My plan was to go to Brookside Close and make a ...
W4647
25.05.2011
Este No Es Refugio Para Jornaleros - Jenny Polak
WWW
Este No Es Refugio Para Jornaleros A 2008 proposal for Corona Plaza, Queens, by Jenny Polak Invited by the Queens Museum of Art. The 103 st. 7 station connects Corona to the train known by some as the Immigrant Express. I want to put a small camoufla ...
Este No Es Refugio Para Jornaleros A 2008 proposal for Corona Plaza, Queens, by Jenny Polak Invited by the Queens Museum of Art. The 103 st. 7 station connects Corona to the train known by some as the Immigrant Express. I want to put a small camoufla ...
W4823
07.08.2012
Outstretched Arms - Todd Williamson
WWW
"Outstretched Arms" is a project that was originally conceived in 2009 for a university show. It features a 4ft diameter hanging painting that slowly rotates with the air currents. It also features a 10 minute commissioned work of music that supports ...
"Outstretched Arms" is a project that was originally conceived in 2009 for a university show. It features a 4ft diameter hanging painting that slowly rotates with the air currents. It also features a 10 minute commissioned work of music that supports ...
W3603
13.05.2011
francine LeClercq
WWW
in memoriam of a work not yet done ...
in memoriam of a work not yet done ...
W4466
25.05.2011
LEAVE UR MYTH - Lea Petrou
WWW
LEAVE UR MYTH, 2007 For a never realized exhibition at the city of Sarajevo, I proposed a floor-based installation that consists of some hundreds of souvenir bottles of ouzo, (4.5 x 4.5 x 15 cm each). The miniature bottles have the shape of Evzonas, a ...
LEAVE UR MYTH, 2007 For a never realized exhibition at the city of Sarajevo, I proposed a floor-based installation that consists of some hundreds of souvenir bottles of ouzo, (4.5 x 4.5 x 15 cm each). The miniature bottles have the shape of Evzonas, a ...
W4645
25.05.2011
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison - Jenny Polak
WWW
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison. A proposal by Jenny Polak 500 ch Porta-Prison is a fictional design proposal: a deployable detention center conceived to bring seasonal labour to farms. The project includes an interactive promotional website ...
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison. A proposal by Jenny Polak 500 ch Porta-Prison is a fictional design proposal: a deployable detention center conceived to bring seasonal labour to farms. The project includes an interactive promotional website ...
W4289
24.05.2011
Mouse Trap - Carla Bengtson
WWW
Mouse Trap 9 days, 9 baits, 2010 Digital print with raisin, peanut butter, cranberry, peanut butter, cheese, and crackers in artist’s studio at Ucross Foundation, Wyoming ...
Mouse Trap 9 days, 9 baits, 2010 Digital print with raisin, peanut butter, cranberry, peanut butter, cheese, and crackers in artist’s studio at Ucross Foundation, Wyoming ...
W3703
17.05.2011
Izabela Ołdak
WWW
Artist Statement Artists don't make objects. Artists make mythologies. 
Anish Kapoor Art has the power to cause a revolution, to change minds. It is for me a communication aimed at the search for truth, in life and in reality. Art has an immense p ...
Artist Statement Artists don't make objects. Artists make mythologies. 
Anish Kapoor Art has the power to cause a revolution, to change minds. It is for me a communication aimed at the search for truth, in life and in reality. Art has an immense p ...
U9793
01.01.1997
Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt
Unbuilt Roads
D10785
01.01.2013
TO BUY A CAR AND DROP IT IN THE OCEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF A FULLMOON NIGHT - Bruzzone
DAAD
TO BUY A CAR AND DROP IT IN THE OCEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF A FULLMOON NIGHT ...
TO BUY A CAR AND DROP IT IN THE OCEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF A FULLMOON NIGHT ...
W3691
16.05.2011
Rolf Hinterecker
WWW
The train will be fixed in a steal frame construction Most of the complex construction is placed under the water surface. Counterbalances in the cube are needed for the balance. Several boom supports floating short above the ground will protect an overset ...
The train will be fixed in a steal frame construction Most of the complex construction is placed under the water surface. Counterbalances in the cube are needed for the balance. Several boom supports floating short above the ground will protect an overset ...
W4396
25.05.2011
The Oyster Delusion - Sean Rafferty
WWW
The Oyster Delusion - a series of recent unrealised projects alongside page 99 of Voss, the 1957 novel by Patrick White. 2010. Large work: graphite on paper in aluminium window-frame. All other works: inkjet prints on archival paper in IKEA frames. Vos ...
The Oyster Delusion - a series of recent unrealised projects alongside page 99 of Voss, the 1957 novel by Patrick White. 2010. Large work: graphite on paper in aluminium window-frame. All other works: inkjet prints on archival paper in IKEA frames. Vos ...
W10357
18.04.2014
After The Flood - Ingrid Mayrhofer
WWW
This project marks the last exhibition of a selection of works on paper from my past 30 years in printmaking, photography and painting. During the July 2013 storm, my basement studio was flooded, and 60 pieces of my artwork were damaged. While the water d ...
This project marks the last exhibition of a selection of works on paper from my past 30 years in printmaking, photography and painting. During the July 2013 storm, my basement studio was flooded, and 60 pieces of my artwork were damaged. While the water d ...
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 ...