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.

To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski

Proposal for a permanent video installation for the NYC headquarters of Sony Corporation - Dara Birnbaum

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill

Monument to Democracy - Kounellis

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

The World Record - General Idea

Ceinture - Huang Ping Yong

NON REALIZED PROJECTS - Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Der New-Babyloner - Constant

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4007
22.05.2011
BEGGARS' BANQUET - Alessandro Rolandi
WWW
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
W5228
08.10.2012
Julie Ball
WWW
Digital images from an evolving collection of unintentional human mark making Images related as a record of a chance incident in time that has left a physical mark -evidence of the moment. Each mark has its origins as unique, unintentional and undesir ...
Digital images from an evolving collection of unintentional human mark making Images related as a record of a chance incident in time that has left a physical mark -evidence of the moment. Each mark has its origins as unique, unintentional and undesir ...
W4877
09.08.2012
Dream Vessels - Beth Surdut
WWW
You may find my Dream Vessels Project at http://www.bethsurdut.com/dreamvesselsproject.htm When I posted the concept in 2007, artists and engineers contacted me expecting or hoping that I would provide funding, which is not the case. I hope. ...
You may find my Dream Vessels Project at http://www.bethsurdut.com/dreamvesselsproject.htm When I posted the concept in 2007, artists and engineers contacted me expecting or hoping that I would provide funding, which is not the case. I hope. ...
W5217
06.10.2012
Virtual Papyrus - Anna Maria Bonanese
WWW
Virtual Papyrus is an interactive website which allows users to create a message or drawing in response to one of four topics: Utopia, The Environment, Addictions, and Work. These categories were chosen for their relation to the broader theme of "collecti ...
Virtual Papyrus is an interactive website which allows users to create a message or drawing in response to one of four topics: Utopia, The Environment, Addictions, and Work. These categories were chosen for their relation to the broader theme of "collecti ...
W5234
09.10.2012
Chocolate Video - Erika Norris
WWW
PROJECT: CHOCOLATE VIDEO – September 2012 The idea is to create a video where I use the images of someone (myself) eating large quantities of chocolate. I then want to include images of my body interacting with chocolate. I am thinking of pouring cho ...
PROJECT: CHOCOLATE VIDEO – September 2012 The idea is to create a video where I use the images of someone (myself) eating large quantities of chocolate. I then want to include images of my body interacting with chocolate. I am thinking of pouring cho ...
W3718
17.05.2011
Thomas Koole
WWW
The installation was removed just prior to opening by curator without explanation (space given to another artist) -as the work depended upon viewer interaction for realization it remains un-actuated. Us and Them wood, copper, toy soldiers, red candl ...
The installation was removed just prior to opening by curator without explanation (space given to another artist) -as the work depended upon viewer interaction for realization it remains un-actuated. Us and Them wood, copper, toy soldiers, red candl ...
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. ...
W4167
24.05.2011
Outopia - Eloise Kirk
WWW
Outopia ‘Outopia’ (meaning no place) is an on-going, fragmented project based on a fictional landscape. This landscape is neither here nor there; it exists only as representation of the internal self, in perpetual relation with the world. ...
Outopia ‘Outopia’ (meaning no place) is an on-going, fragmented project based on a fictional landscape. This landscape is neither here nor there; it exists only as representation of the internal self, in perpetual relation with the world. ...
W5185
30.09.2012
White Cube Research - Pascal Unbehaun
WWW
WHITE CUBE RESEARCH aims to set up a full operative institute for theoretical research in an exhibition context. The researchers are asked to gather in a small building, the white cube (or just in an office-like setup) inside an art exhibition. ...
WHITE CUBE RESEARCH aims to set up a full operative institute for theoretical research in an exhibition context. The researchers are asked to gather in a small building, the white cube (or just in an office-like setup) inside an art exhibition. ...
W5452
20.10.2012
TRANSCULTURAL BODHISATTVA STUDIES: RE-CONSIDERING THE BODHISATTVA ICON IN A TRANSCULTURAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT - Isabel Seliger
WWW
Oct. 20, 2012 Isabel Seliger, PhD Proposal for Berliner Künstlerprogramm/ DAAD “unrealized projects” TRANSCULTURAL BODHISATTVA STUDIES: RE-CONSIDERING THE BODHISATTVA ICON IN A TRANSCULTURAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT Project Abstract: Art histor ...
Oct. 20, 2012 Isabel Seliger, PhD Proposal for Berliner Künstlerprogramm/ DAAD “unrealized projects” TRANSCULTURAL BODHISATTVA STUDIES: RE-CONSIDERING THE BODHISATTVA ICON IN A TRANSCULTURAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT Project Abstract: Art histor ...
W4469
25.05.2011
Straight-Line Residency Project (SLRP):  - Margaret Roberts
WWW
Straight-Line Residency Project (SLRP): Executive summary A. The SLRP aims to • support interdimensional travel from virtual to physical space, • encourage the re-valuation of physical space by showing it as a desirable destination for interdimens ...
Straight-Line Residency Project (SLRP): Executive summary A. The SLRP aims to • support interdimensional travel from virtual to physical space, • encourage the re-valuation of physical space by showing it as a desirable destination for interdimens ...
W3533
11.05.2011
The Pagoda - Michael Jantzen
WWW
Would be made from sustainably grown Western Red Cedar wood. Approximately twenty one feet wide, fifteen feet deep, and eighteen feet tall. ...
Would be made from sustainably grown Western Red Cedar wood. Approximately twenty one feet wide, fifteen feet deep, and eighteen feet tall. ...
W4863
09.08.2012
Zeitstück - Alexander Hahn
WWW
Zeitstück Video-Installation von Alexander Hahn, vers. Juni 05, 1996 Beschreibung Entstehung: Eingeladene Wettbewerbseingabe Kunst am Bau Neubau ETH Leonardstrasse Zürich. Nicht realisiert. Die Jury befürchtete damals, die Studenten könnten s ...
Zeitstück Video-Installation von Alexander Hahn, vers. Juni 05, 1996 Beschreibung Entstehung: Eingeladene Wettbewerbseingabe Kunst am Bau Neubau ETH Leonardstrasse Zürich. Nicht realisiert. Die Jury befürchtete damals, die Studenten könnten s ...
W3749
18.05.2011
THE FRIEZE ART FAIR! - Matthew Shannon
WWW
This project, a comic book, was one of the 5 finalists for the 2011 Frieze Art Fair EMDASH award. Written Treatment. The proposed work is an amplification of the fair and its potential meanings across different levels of reality. The epileptic segue o ...
This project, a comic book, was one of the 5 finalists for the 2011 Frieze Art Fair EMDASH award. Written Treatment. The proposed work is an amplification of the fair and its potential meanings across different levels of reality. The epileptic segue o ...
W4247
24.05.2011
Writing on the wall - Eric Fong
WWW
This project is inspired by the political, economic and cultural changes in China and Germany in 1989 and after. While East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania moved towards democracy in 1989, China killed pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Squ ...
This project is inspired by the political, economic and cultural changes in China and Germany in 1989 and after. While East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania moved towards democracy in 1989, China killed pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Squ ...
W5349
18.10.2012
Rebecca Harris
WWW
The house skin project was intended to explore the transitory and fragile nature of home. Placing lightweight muslin fabric onto the entire side of a windowless brick wall an indexical print would remain. The project got as far as a trial piece, as seen ...
The house skin project was intended to explore the transitory and fragile nature of home. Placing lightweight muslin fabric onto the entire side of a windowless brick wall an indexical print would remain. The project got as far as a trial piece, as seen ...
W3625
14.05.2011
Radical Artist Workshop (RAW) - Radical Artist Workshop
WWW
Conceived in 2007, Radical Artist Workshop (RAW) is a blog of proposed projects and fictitious/real testimonials that question notions of radicality in contemporary art. ...
Conceived in 2007, Radical Artist Workshop (RAW) is a blog of proposed projects and fictitious/real testimonials that question notions of radicality in contemporary art. ...
W4476
25.05.2011
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless - Elizabeth McTernan
WWW
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless An extension of my ongoing performance project "The Satellites Are Dust, the Phone Lines Are Down, the Postal Service Is Bankrupt" (a post-apocalyptic romance of sorts), I propose erecting a telephone pole crowned with a gre ...
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless An extension of my ongoing performance project "The Satellites Are Dust, the Phone Lines Are Down, the Postal Service Is Bankrupt" (a post-apocalyptic romance of sorts), I propose erecting a telephone pole crowned with a gre ...
W4821
07.08.2012
Column - Hannes Bend
WWW
Column, 2010 Candy cast sculpture of a Greek column, multi-colored, white or translucent Proposal for Sculpture Center New York Open Call in June 2010 Column Project Proposal for Sculpture Center New York 2010 by Hannes Bend Candy Column, 2010 is ...
Column, 2010 Candy cast sculpture of a Greek column, multi-colored, white or translucent Proposal for Sculpture Center New York Open Call in June 2010 Column Project Proposal for Sculpture Center New York 2010 by Hannes Bend Candy Column, 2010 is ...
W3984
21.05.2011
Erin Leland
WWW
My professor photographed me when I was younger and later gave me 3,000 out of a group of 10,000 pictures for my own use. When he died without a will, his two sons found our printed images scattered in the home and the digital images in a number of hard d ...
My professor photographed me when I was younger and later gave me 3,000 out of a group of 10,000 pictures for my own use. When he died without a will, his two sons found our printed images scattered in the home and the digital images in a number of hard d ...
W4460
25.05.2011
Wish Tree - Soyoung Park
WWW
Wish Tree I am drawn to the naivety of the words “wish” and “tree”. In the current cultural atmosphere of criticality, the naive cliche of growing wishes on a tree feels almost refreshing. But then I question what kinds of wishes we can grow on ...
Wish Tree I am drawn to the naivety of the words “wish” and “tree”. In the current cultural atmosphere of criticality, the naive cliche of growing wishes on a tree feels almost refreshing. But then I question what kinds of wishes we can grow on ...
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 ...
W3580
13.05.2011
Diary - Brocken Column, 1989 - Dan Mihaltianu
WWW
Brocken Column belongs to a series of works produced in the late 80s with the generic title "Diary", drawings, lithographs, artist books and installations, using as symbols the initials of the week days ...
Brocken Column belongs to a series of works produced in the late 80s with the generic title "Diary", drawings, lithographs, artist books and installations, using as symbols the initials of the week days ...
W11006
26.03.2016
Monetarium - Amitesh Grover
WWW
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
W5393
20.10.2012
Nursery - Ismini Chacholiadou
WWW
photographic series “Nursery” This series of photographs began as a project where Ismini Haholiadou was exploring different trajectories in her practice. Where she previously set up spaces and scenes to photograph, in this project she scouted for ...
photographic series “Nursery” This series of photographs began as a project where Ismini Haholiadou was exploring different trajectories in her practice. Where she previously set up spaces and scenes to photograph, in this project she scouted for ...
W4670
26.05.2011
Translating Missed Time  - April Lamm and Franz Stauffenberg
WWW
Translating Missed Time In Rococo England, 1751, the British usurped its citizens of 11 days. That is, September 3 became September 14th with the wave of a parliamentary wand. Riots ensued, placards were held high in the streets proclaiming “Give u ...
Translating Missed Time In Rococo England, 1751, the British usurped its citizens of 11 days. That is, September 3 became September 14th with the wave of a parliamentary wand. Riots ensued, placards were held high in the streets proclaiming “Give u ...