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.

Project tor the Veterans Administration Hospital--Bay Pines, Florida. - Robert Morris

Dog Jaw Monument - A Futurist Tele-introject - Leon Golub

Museum - Katharina Fritsch

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

PROJECT FOR A COMMUNITY CENTER, AVENUE DES NARCISSES, CHENOVE - Vito Acconci

Der New-Babyloner - Constant

Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles

<A Public Misery Message> - Critical Art Ensemble

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4499
25.05.2011
The frozen Plattenbau in Eisenhüttenstadt - Karl Kilian
WWW
The frozen Plattenbau in Eisenhüttenstadt A short history of Eisenhüttenstadt of ‘first socialist city on German soil’ Eisenhüttenstadt is a town in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany at the border to Poland. While the communist ae ...
The frozen Plattenbau in Eisenhüttenstadt A short history of Eisenhüttenstadt of ‘first socialist city on German soil’ Eisenhüttenstadt is a town in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany at the border to Poland. While the communist ae ...
U9793
01.01.1997
Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt
Unbuilt Roads
W4559
25.05.2011
Being there and not here - Baptist Coelho
WWW
Artwork Details: Being there and not here, 2006 Mixed-media installation with performance Dimension of gardens: L 48 X B 52 X H 3 feet Installation dimensions: Variable Concept Note: The installation, Being there and not here, consists of two ide ...
Artwork Details: Being there and not here, 2006 Mixed-media installation with performance Dimension of gardens: L 48 X B 52 X H 3 feet Installation dimensions: Variable Concept Note: The installation, Being there and not here, consists of two ide ...
U9298
01.01.1991
Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa
Unbuilt Roads
When the project to built the AVE train (Madrid-Scville-Madrid) was getting started, a design team was put together to design the mobile units of this high-speed train. Visual Poet, Joan Brossa, was asked to collaborate in the final touches of this de ...
When the project to built the AVE train (Madrid-Scville-Madrid) was getting started, a design team was put together to design the mobile units of this high-speed train. Visual Poet, Joan Brossa, was asked to collaborate in the final touches of this de ...
W3696
16.05.2011
Man thrown from his environment torned
pick up his mess
rhea his route
rolling in his fate - Alicia Larraín
WWW
The concept of this Art installation is to emphasize the segmentation or boundary as a subtle , ambiguous limit, which divides areas, confining people, separating them in the world they inhabit.  Allowing them to free themselves from their imprisonmen ...
The concept of this Art installation is to emphasize the segmentation or boundary as a subtle , ambiguous limit, which divides areas, confining people, separating them in the world they inhabit.  Allowing them to free themselves from their imprisonmen ...
W4231
24.05.2011
"Sand Uproar, Sand Glass” - Orit Ishay
WWW
"Sand Uproar, Sand Glass” Orit Ishay Tel-Aviv city, also called "the white city", has recently celebrated a 100 years to its establishment. According to conventional public narrative, this is a city that was raised on pure sands, unlike other place ...
"Sand Uproar, Sand Glass” Orit Ishay Tel-Aviv city, also called "the white city", has recently celebrated a 100 years to its establishment. According to conventional public narrative, this is a city that was raised on pure sands, unlike other place ...
W4272
24.05.2011
Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Proposals for Hudson River Park New York 1997 ...
Proposals for Hudson River Park New York 1997 ...
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. ...
W3776
18.05.2011
The Game - Thea Lanzisero
WWW
Socrates Sculpture Park Proposal 2009 “The Game” Observation on the use of a rural, renewable plant media within an urban industrial setting I am curious as to the various adaptations and boundaries of bamboo. ...
Socrates Sculpture Park Proposal 2009 “The Game” Observation on the use of a rural, renewable plant media within an urban industrial setting I am curious as to the various adaptations and boundaries of bamboo. ...
U9548
01.01.1997
Why New Worlds Conceived by Artists Do Not Get Built - Peter Fend
Unbuilt Roads
Art, being a permutation or adaptation of that which is known, bodies forth the new. It bodies forth, at the least, mutations. These mutations, curiously, coincide with other fields of innovation, such as science and technology. And the mutations, t ...
Art, being a permutation or adaptation of that which is known, bodies forth the new. It bodies forth, at the least, mutations. These mutations, curiously, coincide with other fields of innovation, such as science and technology. And the mutations, t ...
W4517
25.05.2011
”I did go upstairs but I didn’t see nobody but me” - Daniel Permanetter
WWW
The work is a room installation basically consisting of a live-sized Bob Dylan puppet and an old wooden staircase. The staircase will be rebuild so it appears to be frozen in a crumbling movement. The whole installation is meant to resemble the interior o ...
The work is a room installation basically consisting of a live-sized Bob Dylan puppet and an old wooden staircase. The staircase will be rebuild so it appears to be frozen in a crumbling movement. The whole installation is meant to resemble the interior o ...
W5132
19.09.2012
Leo Morrissey
WWW
Leo Morrissey 310 West 4th Street 1107 Winston Salem NC, 27101 USA 336-473 –3888 Leomorrissey58@hotmail.com Lmorrissey22@hotmail.com Project Concept – (Summary/Description ) Create a postcard in an edition of 8875 (representing the popula ...
Leo Morrissey 310 West 4th Street 1107 Winston Salem NC, 27101 USA 336-473 –3888 Leomorrissey58@hotmail.com Lmorrissey22@hotmail.com Project Concept – (Summary/Description ) Create a postcard in an edition of 8875 (representing the popula ...
W5216
06.10.2012
Zeitseeing - Gisela Weimann
WWW
I am interested in the interplay between objects and sounds and movement in time and space. Word games and the change of classical musical formats with an ironic undertone are often part of my projects. ...
I am interested in the interplay between objects and sounds and movement in time and space. Word games and the change of classical musical formats with an ironic undertone are often part of my projects. ...
W4381
25.05.2011
Listening Sign - Jamie Pawlus
WWW
Project: Listening Sign The empty sign structure is rapidly populating the urban and rural horizon across the entire United States. I perceive it as a symbol of an economy, culture, and the human spirit in a state of decline. This structure is more tha ...
Project: Listening Sign The empty sign structure is rapidly populating the urban and rural horizon across the entire United States. I perceive it as a symbol of an economy, culture, and the human spirit in a state of decline. This structure is more tha ...
W4956
20.08.2012
Carpet Bombing- Iraqi Markets - Eugene Soler
WWW
Since the war in Iraq 2001 and the ousting of the Iraqi goverment in 2002-2003, we have witnessed the vast amount of insurgents who have used 'terror' as their main weapon. By attacking and bombing gathering places and large crowds, terrorists can inflict ...
Since the war in Iraq 2001 and the ousting of the Iraqi goverment in 2002-2003, we have witnessed the vast amount of insurgents who have used 'terror' as their main weapon. By attacking and bombing gathering places and large crowds, terrorists can inflict ...
W4350
24.05.2011
Far Along - ap-art-ment
WWW
Far Along Part 1 of Far Along will be a boat expedition/mobile exhibition to the Farallon Islands, officially a part of the City of San Francisco, though located 27 miles offshore. Forty-five participants will sail under the Golden Gate Bridge, and out ...
Far Along Part 1 of Far Along will be a boat expedition/mobile exhibition to the Farallon Islands, officially a part of the City of San Francisco, though located 27 miles offshore. Forty-five participants will sail under the Golden Gate Bridge, and out ...
W5256
12.10.2012
The vaporization of 500 liters of perfume over a landlocked city - Dane Mitchell
WWW
Unrealized Project Dane Mitchell The vaporization of 500 liters of perfume over a landlocked city. The scent would predominantly contain ambergris, a substance produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated by sperm whales. ...
Unrealized Project Dane Mitchell The vaporization of 500 liters of perfume over a landlocked city. The scent would predominantly contain ambergris, a substance produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated by sperm whales. ...
W4628
25.05.2011
The Hackney Flyover - David Cotterrell
WWW
The Hackney Flyover Driving London Forward In 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) received a long-awaited feasibility study from their cost-consultants, Turner and Townsend Group. While the Olympic site development cost projections were consider ...
The Hackney Flyover Driving London Forward In 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) received a long-awaited feasibility study from their cost-consultants, Turner and Townsend Group. While the Olympic site development cost projections were consider ...
W4164
23.05.2011
Judith Sönnicken
WWW
my unrealizeable artwork is the image of my nose turning into a balcony and my brain coming out to have a cigarette. the point of visualizing it would be to put it in front of the eyes, but in fact that image is taking place behind. ...
my unrealizeable artwork is the image of my nose turning into a balcony and my brain coming out to have a cigarette. the point of visualizing it would be to put it in front of the eyes, but in fact that image is taking place behind. ...
W5186
30.09.2012
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’)  - Betty Nigianni
WWW
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’) - - Oil and acrylic paints, inkjet prints, tissue paper, and straw on canvas, 80X120 cm approx. (2010-11) Initiated during a course at the Slade School of Fine Art, this experimental painting develo ...
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’) - - Oil and acrylic paints, inkjet prints, tissue paper, and straw on canvas, 80X120 cm approx. (2010-11) Initiated during a course at the Slade School of Fine Art, this experimental painting develo ...
W3515
11.05.2011
Serpentine Project - CLEMENT PRICE-THOMAS
WWW
THE SERPENTINE PROJECT Project Brief Pre Proposal “Physics has found no strait lines - it’s only found waves. Physics has found no solids – only high frequency event fields. The universe is not conforming to a three dimensional perpendicula ...
THE SERPENTINE PROJECT Project Brief Pre Proposal “Physics has found no strait lines - it’s only found waves. Physics has found no solids – only high frequency event fields. The universe is not conforming to a three dimensional perpendicula ...
W4334
24.05.2011
METEORITE AL CONTRARIO (INVERTED METEORITE)  - Davide Bertocchi
WWW
METEORITE AL CONTRARIO (INVERTED METEORITE) - 2011 PROJECT. STONE, SPACE MISSION Courtesy the artist A medium size stone (more or less 50 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm) is sent into space. Like a meteorite but following an opposite trajectory, that is, inste ...
METEORITE AL CONTRARIO (INVERTED METEORITE) - 2011 PROJECT. STONE, SPACE MISSION Courtesy the artist A medium size stone (more or less 50 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm) is sent into space. Like a meteorite but following an opposite trajectory, that is, inste ...
W5301
17.10.2012
Spiral Monument - Lux Geier
WWW
Monument: Debussy’s La Mer: SPIRAL MONUMENT – an unrealized project SPIRAL MONUMENT intends to drop visitors into the grooves of a recording of Debussy’s famed orchestral work La Mer. This structure, which replicates the surface of a vinyl recor ...
Monument: Debussy’s La Mer: SPIRAL MONUMENT – an unrealized project SPIRAL MONUMENT intends to drop visitors into the grooves of a recording of Debussy’s famed orchestral work La Mer. This structure, which replicates the surface of a vinyl recor ...
W4641
25.05.2011
Unrealized Project: - Diana Clarke
WWW
Unrealized Project: One of my unrealized projects is an exhibition about exhibition making. The exhibition as a medium in itself is becoming popularly appreciated, and is only beginning to become understood. We are in a time when such an exhibition wou ...
Unrealized Project: One of my unrealized projects is an exhibition about exhibition making. The exhibition as a medium in itself is becoming popularly appreciated, and is only beginning to become understood. We are in a time when such an exhibition wou ...
W5136
19.09.2012
Cormac McCarthy Searching - Rick Martin
WWW
CORMAC McCARTHY SEARCHING In the winter of 1999 I was artist in residence at BEMIS CCA in Omaha Nebraska. I travelled to El Paso to meet the writer Cormac McCarthy, The WWW informed me he ate breakfast at Furrs every day. At Furrs I was told they didn't. ...
CORMAC McCARTHY SEARCHING In the winter of 1999 I was artist in residence at BEMIS CCA in Omaha Nebraska. I travelled to El Paso to meet the writer Cormac McCarthy, The WWW informed me he ate breakfast at Furrs every day. At Furrs I was told they didn't. ...
W4254
24.05.2011
Jim Foster
WWW
JIM FOSTER 10315 N. County Rd. 15 • Fort Collins CO 80524 • USA 970.568.7768 fostart.jimart@gmail.com Museum Exhibitions/Selected 2010 - Fukuoka Asian Art Museum: Fukuoka, Japan. World Peace Through Art: Matsuda Bokuden & H ...
JIM FOSTER 10315 N. County Rd. 15 • Fort Collins CO 80524 • USA 970.568.7768 fostart.jimart@gmail.com Museum Exhibitions/Selected 2010 - Fukuoka Asian Art Museum: Fukuoka, Japan. World Peace Through Art: Matsuda Bokuden & H ...