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.

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

Catwalk - Sylive Fleury

119. PROJET DE DESTRUCTION DU MUSEE 1970 - 1971 - Jef Geys

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

Ruderaltisch, 1994/95 Kunst am Bau - Projekt - Lois Weinberger

Post Photographic apparatus - Steven Pippin

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

Attitudine Diplomatica - Hermann Pitz

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

Broadway Musicals - Christian Marclay

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4736
26.05.2011
WHITE FLAG PROJECT - WHITE FLAG PROJECT
WWW
The Project is to display a white flag on the top on contemporary artistic institutions in as many country as possible for a determined length of time. After a year of exposure to the elements, all the flags will be collected and brought back to France... ...
The Project is to display a white flag on the top on contemporary artistic institutions in as many country as possible for a determined length of time. After a year of exposure to the elements, all the flags will be collected and brought back to France... ...
W10185
04.04.2014
Robot Building Museum Shop from MCA to DIA - Maymay Jumsai
WWW
My proposal is to make a museum shop for the Robot Building my father designed. I’m asian, I have a strong family value. The Robot Building was part of the project ‘City on the Move’, that went to Venice Biennale in 1996. We had to pay for the ship ...
My proposal is to make a museum shop for the Robot Building my father designed. I’m asian, I have a strong family value. The Robot Building was part of the project ‘City on the Move’, that went to Venice Biennale in 1996. We had to pay for the ship ...
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 ...
W4520
25.05.2011
take charge of your life.  - Joan Vicent Marí Domenech
WWW
The unrealized project that I present is called: take charge of your life. These is what I was doing during my studies in fine arts Erasmus in Athens. Knowing myself. Began with a series of banners carried out haphazardly. The two images presen ...
The unrealized project that I present is called: take charge of your life. These is what I was doing during my studies in fine arts Erasmus in Athens. Knowing myself. Began with a series of banners carried out haphazardly. The two images presen ...
W5079
06.09.2012
Urban Void 04  - Toornend & Post
WWW
Urban Void 04 (Church), Breidscheidplatz, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 2480×5100 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipo ...
Urban Void 04 (Church), Breidscheidplatz, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 2480×5100 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipo ...
W5065
04.09.2012
The Canon - Stephanie Radok
WWW
The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. It involves casting 1,001 books representing the canon of Western literature. A list of the books, the rejected works and the reasons for the choices made form ...
The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. It involves casting 1,001 books representing the canon of Western literature. A list of the books, the rejected works and the reasons for the choices made form ...
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 ...
U9567
01.01.1995
Museum - Katharina Fritsch
Unbuilt Roads
Beschreibung des Modells bitte dem Katalog "Katharina Fritsch, Museum, Biennale Venedig 1995" entnehmen. (Erster Abschnitt: Modell 1:10) Der Katalog ist bei Cantz in Stuttgart gedruckt. Previous Publications (?) Katalog der Biennale Venedig 1995 (s ...
Beschreibung des Modells bitte dem Katalog "Katharina Fritsch, Museum, Biennale Venedig 1995" entnehmen. (Erster Abschnitt: Modell 1:10) Der Katalog ist bei Cantz in Stuttgart gedruckt. Previous Publications (?) Katalog der Biennale Venedig 1995 (s ...
W4194
24.05.2011
Fleury Jean Damien
WWW
Rotation terrestre avec différentiel / projet d'harmonisation par réglage des écoulements temporels ...
Rotation terrestre avec différentiel / projet d'harmonisation par réglage des écoulements temporels ...
W4397
25.05.2011
Flâneur - konstantinos-antonios goutos / the[video]Flâneu®
WWW
PROJECT [video]Flâneu® The artist walks like a „Flâneur“ through the city. He does not have a turtle with him (as the original Parisian Flâneur of the 1830‘s used to); later, he does not write stories (as Edgar Allan Poe or Hans Christian Ande ...
PROJECT [video]Flâneu® The artist walks like a „Flâneur“ through the city. He does not have a turtle with him (as the original Parisian Flâneur of the 1830‘s used to); later, he does not write stories (as Edgar Allan Poe or Hans Christian Ande ...
W3556
12.05.2011
Breakdown: A Prototypical Monument to the Open Road - John Landewe
WWW
Proposal John Landewe 152 Douglass St. Brooklyn, NY 917.676.950 Breakdown: A Prototypical Monument to the Open Road Breakdown is a self-contained, nomadic monument dedicated to industrial-strength mobility and the acceleration of the postmodern c ...
Proposal John Landewe 152 Douglass St. Brooklyn, NY 917.676.950 Breakdown: A Prototypical Monument to the Open Road Breakdown is a self-contained, nomadic monument dedicated to industrial-strength mobility and the acceleration of the postmodern c ...
W5112
16.09.2012
The Cactus Room - Javier Tapia
WWW
THE CAUCUS ROOM Project proposal for OVERGADEN By Javier Tapia The authentic moment of discovery, the breakthrough, occurs when a properly universal dimension explodes from within a particular context and becomes “for itself”, and is directly ex ...
THE CAUCUS ROOM Project proposal for OVERGADEN By Javier Tapia The authentic moment of discovery, the breakthrough, occurs when a properly universal dimension explodes from within a particular context and becomes “for itself”, and is directly ex ...
W10632
10.07.2014
It's About Time - Joel Leibowitz
WWW
To present Time without any subjective components other than it's own process and elemental philological descriptors. Two foam modules one comprised of the letters: TI the other ME "TI" - 64 FEET HIGH X 32 FEET WIDE carrying satellite guidance equip ...
To present Time without any subjective components other than it's own process and elemental philological descriptors. Two foam modules one comprised of the letters: TI the other ME "TI" - 64 FEET HIGH X 32 FEET WIDE carrying satellite guidance equip ...
W5270
13.10.2012
neomad - GrubyPunkt Urban Lab
WWW
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
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 ...
W4329
24.05.2011
Nicolau Tudela
WWW
This unfinished work was an installation based on the deficiency of the author. The base of the conception was in fact his right arm and it would reflect the, some what, painful and discomfort feelings that the author felt and feels about and with it. The ...
This unfinished work was an installation based on the deficiency of the author. The base of the conception was in fact his right arm and it would reflect the, some what, painful and discomfort feelings that the author felt and feels about and with it. The ...
W3520
11.05.2011
Steingrimur Eyfjord
WWW
These ideas are from a project I am working on which has the working title “KELLINGIN“ and is a collection of ideas, text and images. ...
These ideas are from a project I am working on which has the working title “KELLINGIN“ and is a collection of ideas, text and images. ...
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 ...
W4338
24.05.2011
Untitled (Paper Cuts), - Raluca Popa
WWW
RALUCA POPA Untitled (Paper Cuts), paper, glue, dimensions variable (2011) No one to talk. This work is in progress. This work addresses the subject of failure – the failure of the object and the failure of the event. This work might create ...
RALUCA POPA Untitled (Paper Cuts), paper, glue, dimensions variable (2011) No one to talk. This work is in progress. This work addresses the subject of failure – the failure of the object and the failure of the event. This work might create ...
W4917
15.08.2012
Oxford Toilet Exchange - Katie Herzog
WWW
Oxford Toilet Exchange My proposed exchange will be facilitated via the swapping of doors in the stalls of the public toilet at the Oxford University Library with stall doors in the Oxford Public Library. Library Toilet as Final Frontier: On Reject ...
Oxford Toilet Exchange My proposed exchange will be facilitated via the swapping of doors in the stalls of the public toilet at the Oxford University Library with stall doors in the Oxford Public Library. Library Toilet as Final Frontier: On Reject ...
W4159
23.05.2011
Asymmetric Flight - andreas kopp
WWW
Asymmetric Flight Concept for a mobilé in public space. With attached documents I would like to introduce a concept (from 2009) which I so far have not been able to realize. ...
Asymmetric Flight Concept for a mobilé in public space. With attached documents I would like to introduce a concept (from 2009) which I so far have not been able to realize. ...
W5440
20.10.2012
Live Baghdad Live London - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
W5422
20.10.2012
ŻAK BRANICKA FOUNDATION - Szymon Kobylarz
WWW
“Agency of Unrealized Projects” Szymon Kobylarz (Polen) ŻAK BRANICKA FOUNDATION DEUTSCH Bild 1. Das 1. Bild zeigt eine nicht-­‐realisierte, ortspezifische Installation in einer Galerie. Der Besucher eines mit Büchern vollgestopften Raum ...
“Agency of Unrealized Projects” Szymon Kobylarz (Polen) ŻAK BRANICKA FOUNDATION DEUTSCH Bild 1. Das 1. Bild zeigt eine nicht-­‐realisierte, ortspezifische Installation in einer Galerie. Der Besucher eines mit Büchern vollgestopften Raum ...
W5319
18.10.2012
Islay Tower - Isaac Sullivan
WWW
Islay Tower is a would-be real estate development and online visual calendar: a tower of air, in the Inner Hebrides, that will be gradually made visible by images. My attempt to initiate this project in June 2012 failed due to transportation problems I en ...
Islay Tower is a would-be real estate development and online visual calendar: a tower of air, in the Inner Hebrides, that will be gradually made visible by images. My attempt to initiate this project in June 2012 failed due to transportation problems I en ...
W5121
18.09.2012
Mo White
WWW
In 2009 I made a film whose completion has been continually postponed. I made the film quickly with materials to hand, in Super 8 format. The making of the work was an immediate reaction and response to a small event. ‘In March 2009 I bought a lime ...
In 2009 I made a film whose completion has been continually postponed. I made the film quickly with materials to hand, in Super 8 format. The making of the work was an immediate reaction and response to a small event. ‘In March 2009 I bought a lime ...
W4884
10.08.2012
Magazine: 2012 - Caroline Jaine
WWW
Magazine: 2012 is the first exhibition not to be held at the newly acquired Serpentine Sackler Gallery. The show features works by British artists Janice Wilkins and Caroline Jaine and includes: Anonymising the Magazine, Free Libyan Youth, Chromakey, Ico ...
Magazine: 2012 is the first exhibition not to be held at the newly acquired Serpentine Sackler Gallery. The show features works by British artists Janice Wilkins and Caroline Jaine and includes: Anonymising the Magazine, Free Libyan Youth, Chromakey, Ico ...