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.

Ceinture - Huang Ping Yong

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

Fax Transmission - Raymond Pettibone and Jason Rhoades

The World Record - General Idea

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

Projets non réalisés: - Daniel Buren

Monument with Rust - Gustav Metzger

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4432
25.05.2011
Name just add artist
WWW
Name: just add artist Numero 0 – Patrick Tuttofuoco Project of a collection of books 2003 Concept and editorial direction: Chiara Parisi Art Direction: Paola Manfrin Copywriting: Dario Villa This project unrealized of a collection of books in ...
Name: just add artist Numero 0 – Patrick Tuttofuoco Project of a collection of books 2003 Concept and editorial direction: Chiara Parisi Art Direction: Paola Manfrin Copywriting: Dario Villa This project unrealized of a collection of books in ...
W5273
14.10.2012
Cut Here - Bryndís Björnsdóttir
WWW
Cut Here The work proposed for Art Needs Space is a simple drawing of a kite. The kite is digitally drawn as well as hand drawn but the hand drawn elements can be seen in the “cut here” lines of the kite figure. The two-dimensional poster is glued o ...
Cut Here The work proposed for Art Needs Space is a simple drawing of a kite. The kite is digitally drawn as well as hand drawn but the hand drawn elements can be seen in the “cut here” lines of the kite figure. The two-dimensional poster is glued o ...
D10827
09.09.2012
Stajuda - Katarzyna Kozyra
DAAD
When my professor from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, who was a very important person for me, was dying in the same hospital where my father died I got the idea to sit naked on a naked dead body and play on a harpsichord. Stajuda, that was his name, ...
When my professor from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, who was a very important person for me, was dying in the same hospital where my father died I got the idea to sit naked on a naked dead body and play on a harpsichord. Stajuda, that was his name, ...
W4394
25.05.2011
MINILAND MANIFESTO  - Stephen Hobbs
WWW
MINILAND MANIFESTO Ongoing documentation of a number of our coastal cities’ incomplete highway networks has prompted a reading of the space between these structures. Aside from the parking lots and spectacular film settings they provide, they are pe ...
MINILAND MANIFESTO Ongoing documentation of a number of our coastal cities’ incomplete highway networks has prompted a reading of the space between these structures. Aside from the parking lots and spectacular film settings they provide, they are pe ...
W4687
26.05.2011
August Ventimiglia
WWW
An action to be executed in a large open area. "Common red building brick units stacked then tossed outward to form scatter -- stacked units at center -- scatter dissipates. Survey grid laid over scatter. Create drawings of scatter then collect bricks at ...
An action to be executed in a large open area. "Common red building brick units stacked then tossed outward to form scatter -- stacked units at center -- scatter dissipates. Survey grid laid over scatter. Create drawings of scatter then collect bricks at ...
W3994
21.05.2011
Industry of the Ordinary
WWW
Industry of the Ordinary wish to create a portrait of Barack Obama, at this monumental time, by casting his likeness in butter and taking him home to the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois, the town where his political career was born. The Harvest ...
Industry of the Ordinary wish to create a portrait of Barack Obama, at this monumental time, by casting his likeness in butter and taking him home to the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois, the town where his political career was born. The Harvest ...
W4902
12.08.2012
City of Fountains - A. Bitterman
WWW
City of Fountains proposes an exchange between the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kansas City's east side neighborhoods in an effort to disrupt and reposition geographies of race and privilege. ...
City of Fountains proposes an exchange between the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kansas City's east side neighborhoods in an effort to disrupt and reposition geographies of race and privilege. ...
W4754
27.05.2011
Billboard - Oona Stern
WWW
Using the technique of banner advertising ubiquitous throughout the city, a scaffolding bridgeway in lower Manhattan would be wallpapered with an image of architectural material. Reclaiming architectural surfaces from the pervasion of advertising, "billbo ...
Using the technique of banner advertising ubiquitous throughout the city, a scaffolding bridgeway in lower Manhattan would be wallpapered with an image of architectural material. Reclaiming architectural surfaces from the pervasion of advertising, "billbo ...
W5338
18.10.2012
Hanínga Thiel
WWW
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
W10561
08.06.2014
THE FLUID PAVILION OF ARCHITECTURE - MARIA KARACHRISTOU
WWW
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
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 ...
W5030
31.08.2012
Spectral Horse - Mags Harries & Lajos Heder
WWW
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
W4218
24.05.2011
Costa Vece
WWW
Egregio Signor Costa Vece, come annunciatole, le comunico qui di seguito le ragioni che ci hanno indotto a rinunciare all’affissione della sua opera sulla torretta dell’Istituto e a proporle, in alternativa, altri spazi all’interno o nel parco ...
Egregio Signor Costa Vece, come annunciatole, le comunico qui di seguito le ragioni che ci hanno indotto a rinunciare all’affissione della sua opera sulla torretta dell’Istituto e a proporle, in alternativa, altri spazi all’interno o nel parco ...
U9796
28.02.1995
Broadway Musicals - Christian Marclay
Unbuilt Roads
Proposal for a Times Square Business Improvement District Traffic Median Public Art Project Febuary 28th, 1995 Artist: Christian Marclay Title: Broadway Musicals Site: Traffic median between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from 4 ...
Proposal for a Times Square Business Improvement District Traffic Median Public Art Project Febuary 28th, 1995 Artist: Christian Marclay Title: Broadway Musicals Site: Traffic median between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from 4 ...
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 ...
W4172
24.05.2011
The Neverending Fence - Tom Butler
WWW
Statement for The Agency Of Unrealized Projects I use found postcards as miniature environments for sinister and fantastical scenarios. These proposals are not intended be realized and are also distanced from us by the age of the postcard, the only pl ...
Statement for The Agency Of Unrealized Projects I use found postcards as miniature environments for sinister and fantastical scenarios. These proposals are not intended be realized and are also distanced from us by the age of the postcard, the only pl ...
W4431
25.05.2011
NAKED SLAVE FOR SALE FOR 1-YEAR TERM  - Johnny Naked
WWW
NAKED SLAVE FOR SALE FOR 1-YEAR TERM www.nakedslave4art.com The artist Johnny Naked is offering his services as a naked slave for the price of $1,999,999.99 (U.S.) for a duration period of 1 year. Terms of the Deal: The buyer will pay the full price ...
NAKED SLAVE FOR SALE FOR 1-YEAR TERM www.nakedslave4art.com The artist Johnny Naked is offering his services as a naked slave for the price of $1,999,999.99 (U.S.) for a duration period of 1 year. Terms of the Deal: The buyer will pay the full price ...
W3989
21.05.2011
Ordinary Fight Nights - Industry of the Ordinary
WWW
Industry of the Ordinary propose to stage Industry of the Ordinary Fight Nights. The art world is rife with petty enmities and personal disagreements. What better way to sort these out once and for all than to offer protagonists (antagonists) the opportun ...
Industry of the Ordinary propose to stage Industry of the Ordinary Fight Nights. The art world is rife with petty enmities and personal disagreements. What better way to sort these out once and for all than to offer protagonists (antagonists) the opportun ...
W4308
24.05.2011
Adam Battestilli
WWW
POEM You view the world Through rose-tinted handsoap In a clear plastic bottle Pressed up against your eye. People ask you why. You sigh, and you reply, Why, it makes everything pink! And helps me rid My fingers of the stink Of ...
POEM You view the world Through rose-tinted handsoap In a clear plastic bottle Pressed up against your eye. People ask you why. You sigh, and you reply, Why, it makes everything pink! And helps me rid My fingers of the stink Of ...
W3569
12.05.2011
National Address, Art Education for the public 1985  - Julianna Balogh
WWW
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
W3783
18.05.2011
Eileen Neff
WWW
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
W3818
19.05.2011
Kelly Jazvac and Patrick Howlett
WWW
An abstract public sculpture that doubles as a large scale bike rack. Our proposal is for a large-scale, powder-coated steel sculpture to be installed in the outdoor sculpture garden at the SculptureCenter. The project will appear to be a prototypical ...
An abstract public sculpture that doubles as a large scale bike rack. Our proposal is for a large-scale, powder-coated steel sculpture to be installed in the outdoor sculpture garden at the SculptureCenter. The project will appear to be a prototypical ...
W3876
19.05.2011
CURTAIN CALL: Giant drawing as suspended sculpture - Derek Michael Besant
WWW
Client: Windspear Music Centre / City of Edmonton / Canada Date: 1996 Sculpture designed to hang suspended in new Windspear music Hall Tower The idea was to create a drawing in space that was linear, but described volume. The giant detail of fold ...
Client: Windspear Music Centre / City of Edmonton / Canada Date: 1996 Sculpture designed to hang suspended in new Windspear music Hall Tower The idea was to create a drawing in space that was linear, but described volume. The giant detail of fold ...
U9706
01.01.1989
The insurer - Fabrice Hybert
Unbuilt Roads
Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre, il y a sans doute d'autres points que je n'ai pas imagines mais une conversation permettrait sans doute d'apporter des rectifications. Je sollicite votre bienveillance et votre engagement pour pouvoir m'autoriser a vous rencontr ...
Monsieur l'Abbe Pierre, il y a sans doute d'autres points que je n'ai pas imagines mais une conversation permettrait sans doute d'apporter des rectifications. Je sollicite votre bienveillance et votre engagement pour pouvoir m'autoriser a vous rencontr ...
W4439
25.05.2011
Maria Over Mount Athos - Maria Papadimitriou
WWW
By Jennifer Allen Maria Over Mount Athos A hot air balloon floats silently over Mount Athos... Not just any balloon but one carrying an image of Maria's face. Much to the surprise of the monks living on the peninsula, the face does not belong to th ...
By Jennifer Allen Maria Over Mount Athos A hot air balloon floats silently over Mount Athos... Not just any balloon but one carrying an image of Maria's face. Much to the surprise of the monks living on the peninsula, the face does not belong to th ...
W4220
24.05.2011
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine - Atelier Uraiqat
WWW
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat “ The forces of living bodies,..... which exert their energy or force through the production of the new and create, through their efforts, networks, fields, territories that ...
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat “ The forces of living bodies,..... which exert their energy or force through the production of the new and create, through their efforts, networks, fields, territories that ...