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.

Entwurf für einen erneuerten Malkasten 1992 - 1994 - Ulrike Holthöfer

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

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

d'un projet dédié aux victimes de la Shoah. - Christian Boltanski

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

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

PROPOSAL FOR SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION, IN PUBLIC - Chris Burden

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

The pyramids...to be seen to be believed - Jonathan Monk

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3677
15.05.2011
Broken Monumen - ESTHER ACHAERANDIO
WWW
Broken Monument Mixed Media. 8x8x18cm. 2011. Broken Monument takes part of a projects that I was working on for pleasure since 2001. While this works is comprised of a diferent of mediums, they do not aim to ladder up to a singular thesis. That sai ...
Broken Monument Mixed Media. 8x8x18cm. 2011. Broken Monument takes part of a projects that I was working on for pleasure since 2001. While this works is comprised of a diferent of mediums, they do not aim to ladder up to a singular thesis. That sai ...
W5900
18.10.2013
Ice zebra - Matthijs Muller
WWW
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
W4692
26.05.2011
Arachne - Miranda Leigh
WWW
"Arachne" 2001-present 50 x 11 x 60 inches Bull penis, Ingas wood, fulgurite, titanium, aluminum, brass, enamels, and artist's hair "Arachne" is an allegorical portrait of the intense struggle between pride and humility, courage and fear, that nearl ...
"Arachne" 2001-present 50 x 11 x 60 inches Bull penis, Ingas wood, fulgurite, titanium, aluminum, brass, enamels, and artist's hair "Arachne" is an allegorical portrait of the intense struggle between pride and humility, courage and fear, that nearl ...
W5071
05.09.2012
Daily Range - Matan Ashkenazy
WWW
DAILY RANGE. MATAN ASHKENAZY This body of work includes colour photographs done in Israel with an 8x10 plate camera between 2009-2012. The images deal with confined space within the natural environment aesthetically, politically and construct wise. A ...
DAILY RANGE. MATAN ASHKENAZY This body of work includes colour photographs done in Israel with an 8x10 plate camera between 2009-2012. The images deal with confined space within the natural environment aesthetically, politically and construct wise. A ...
W3813
19.05.2011
Bruce Gray
WWW
This is a wood sphere that I drilled into and mounted lots of high powered rare earth magnets. They are all facing the magnetic polarity in the same direction. There was also a large half sphere that I attached magnets with the polarity opposing the sph ...
This is a wood sphere that I drilled into and mounted lots of high powered rare earth magnets. They are all facing the magnetic polarity in the same direction. There was also a large half sphere that I attached magnets with the polarity opposing the sph ...
W4481
25.05.2011
Social Media Surrogate  - Jesse Fulton
WWW
Fulton 1 Social Media Surrogate Summary Social Media Surrogate is a conceptual online performance. The piece in its simplest form consists of the following four actions: 1. Write a script to gather data from a social network which accurately character ...
Fulton 1 Social Media Surrogate Summary Social Media Surrogate is a conceptual online performance. The piece in its simplest form consists of the following four actions: 1. Write a script to gather data from a social network which accurately character ...
W3938
20.05.2011
LETTER OF INTEREST for “Art Mediator” - Verina Gfader
WWW
The attached letter bears witness to a mail exchange following the Manifesta 8 (in the region of Murcia, Spain) announcement and job vacancies within education there. The proposal tries to create a space of uncertainty for the Manifesta organisers. ...
The attached letter bears witness to a mail exchange following the Manifesta 8 (in the region of Murcia, Spain) announcement and job vacancies within education there. The proposal tries to create a space of uncertainty for the Manifesta organisers. ...
W3760
18.05.2011
2345 - Isabela Grosseova and Jesper Alvaer
WWW
2345 Public art proposal for Atlantic Ocean Drive, Norway. (English summary) (Norwegian in attached pdf) English summary: 2345: Proposal for the Atlantic Ocean Road 2010 The Atlantic Ocean Road (AOR) function already as a national monument. It ...
2345 Public art proposal for Atlantic Ocean Drive, Norway. (English summary) (Norwegian in attached pdf) English summary: 2345: Proposal for the Atlantic Ocean Road 2010 The Atlantic Ocean Road (AOR) function already as a national monument. It ...
W4669
25.05.2011
IPIRANGA  - Balam Bartolomé
WWW
IPIRANGA A project by Balam Bartolomé Porfirio Díaz was the president of Mexico for over 30 years. He was overthrew by the Mexican Revolution in 1910 and sent to exile in France. During his dictatorship, in 1904, the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Fine Ar ...
IPIRANGA A project by Balam Bartolomé Porfirio Díaz was the president of Mexico for over 30 years. He was overthrew by the Mexican Revolution in 1910 and sent to exile in France. During his dictatorship, in 1904, the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Fine Ar ...
U9983
01.01.1994
To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski
Unbuilt Roads
(222) steel, wire mesh containers, 'gitter boxes', half filled with architectural and cultural debris with other miscellaneous rubble (22) solar panels with battery bank, etc. (solar system) (6) LCD video projectors; video and live television broad ...
(222) steel, wire mesh containers, 'gitter boxes', half filled with architectural and cultural debris with other miscellaneous rubble (22) solar panels with battery bank, etc. (solar system) (6) LCD video projectors; video and live television broad ...
W4056
23.05.2011
pencil drawings on paper by Jack Kirby and Thom of Finland - Paul Beuchat
WWW
Exhibition of pencil drawings on paper by Jack Kirby and Thom of Finland focusing on images that are similar in form, material and subject matter - muscular men in uniform - to expose the drawn line as a perfect mirror of the maker, independently of form ...
Exhibition of pencil drawings on paper by Jack Kirby and Thom of Finland focusing on images that are similar in form, material and subject matter - muscular men in uniform - to expose the drawn line as a perfect mirror of the maker, independently of form ...
W4022
22.05.2011
Holly Crawford
WWW
Performance/Installation, proposed 1997, identity and feminism using popular cultural image of Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Cancelled last minute due to funds). Minnie Mouse and Why is she depressed? Proposal for performance/installation Disney ...
Performance/Installation, proposed 1997, identity and feminism using popular cultural image of Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Cancelled last minute due to funds). Minnie Mouse and Why is she depressed? Proposal for performance/installation Disney ...
W4426
25.05.2011
The Unicorn Lake - Yona Friedman
WWW
The Unicorn Lake Project for the lake of sculptures of Vassivière island, France July 2009 On the lake of Vassivière After creating in 2009, in the framework of the exhibition Etc. Balkis Island, The Vassivière Unicorn ("Unicorn Eiffel"), a sculp ...
The Unicorn Lake Project for the lake of sculptures of Vassivière island, France July 2009 On the lake of Vassivière After creating in 2009, in the framework of the exhibition Etc. Balkis Island, The Vassivière Unicorn ("Unicorn Eiffel"), a sculp ...
W3549
12.05.2011
Portrait of a village in contemporary art - Eugen Alupopanu
WWW
My project proposal was "Portrait of a village in contemporary art" in which I wanted to use typical means of photography as document and translate them into visual art language, namely painting. In short, I wanted to photograph all the people in the vill ...
My project proposal was "Portrait of a village in contemporary art" in which I wanted to use typical means of photography as document and translate them into visual art language, namely painting. In short, I wanted to photograph all the people in the vill ...
W4484
25.05.2011
Phobos self-degradation  - Toby Huddlestone
WWW
Phobos self-degradation – the artist sends a form of self-degrading archival document to the Mars moon Phobos. Stickney crater, Phobos. Imaged by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, March 23, 2008. Place Phobos, the largest of Mars' two moons, and th ...
Phobos self-degradation – the artist sends a form of self-degrading archival document to the Mars moon Phobos. Stickney crater, Phobos. Imaged by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, March 23, 2008. Place Phobos, the largest of Mars' two moons, and th ...
W4799
10.11.2011
Test
WWW
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
W3775
18.05.2011
Repo Jet’ - Caitlin Berrigan
WWW
Archive of Unrealized Projects 18 May 2011 Dear AUP: I hope you will consider including ‘Repo Jet’ in your Archive of Unrealized Projects. Although I currently lack (and am seeking) the resources to complete it, the project is within the realms of r ...
Archive of Unrealized Projects 18 May 2011 Dear AUP: I hope you will consider including ‘Repo Jet’ in your Archive of Unrealized Projects. Although I currently lack (and am seeking) the resources to complete it, the project is within the realms of r ...
W4808
07.08.2012
Objekt - Dritan Hyska
WWW
I'm here to write to offer my project, titled "Objekt. My work is centered above all on architecture and urban spaces. I just need that on a construction site, harboring, in particular giving me a small space on the scaffold, a photo of variable size PVC ...
I'm here to write to offer my project, titled "Objekt. My work is centered above all on architecture and urban spaces. I just need that on a construction site, harboring, in particular giving me a small space on the scaffold, a photo of variable size PVC ...
W4438
25.05.2011
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel - Lauren Aston
WWW
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel I have created a score from Raphael’s painting The Vision of Ezekiel. The sixteenth century masterpiece has been translated into musical language to the extent that a mass of quavers jostling on the staves of a ...
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel I have created a score from Raphael’s painting The Vision of Ezekiel. The sixteenth century masterpiece has been translated into musical language to the extent that a mass of quavers jostling on the staves of a ...
W3715
17.05.2011
Deck Chair Gateway
 Proposal
 for 
Broward 
County, 
FL
 - Mags Harries & Lajos Héder
WWW
Increasingly, large‐scale buildings isolate surrounding neighborhoods from Broward County’s coast. An iconic gateway could reconnect the community to the water. DeckChair Gateway will rise up 14 Ft, offering a shaded passageway to the beach and a land ...
Increasingly, large‐scale buildings isolate surrounding neighborhoods from Broward County’s coast. An iconic gateway could reconnect the community to the water. DeckChair Gateway will rise up 14 Ft, offering a shaded passageway to the beach and a land ...
W4058
23.05.2011
Karl Jensen
WWW
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
W3826
19.05.2011
CrossSpot  - Tomasz Domanski
WWW
The work I called CrossSpot is a new project . I will try to place it outdoor in the town (Wroclaw) in the area of so called four temples. In one city district there are situated one synagogue, one orthodox Russian, catholic and protestant churches. ...
The work I called CrossSpot is a new project . I will try to place it outdoor in the town (Wroclaw) in the area of so called four temples. In one city district there are situated one synagogue, one orthodox Russian, catholic and protestant churches. ...
W4998
30.08.2012
Lesley Scott Reid
WWW
a project to create images - icons - that represent choices open to a person not get HIV. Each image was to be inserted in one arm bandit machine and be photographed - each line of 4 images coming up being a winner. This work is in archive - if it i ...
a project to create images - icons - that represent choices open to a person not get HIV. Each image was to be inserted in one arm bandit machine and be photographed - each line of 4 images coming up being a winner. This work is in archive - if it i ...
W4858
08.08.2012
Interacting Products - Dan Riley
WWW
Interacting Products Interacting Products is an art installation consisting of two products that interact with eachother and an optional third party interacting with one of the products. The first product is a 909 drum machine which features a clap sou ...
Interacting Products Interacting Products is an art installation consisting of two products that interact with eachother and an optional third party interacting with one of the products. The first product is a 909 drum machine which features a clap sou ...
W4898
11.08.2012
Space and Time - Joe Sobel
WWW
In graduate school I would rearrange my studio constantly. It wasn’t until after I learned of the term tabulology, while studying The Peter Principle. It is the study of unusual arrangements of desks, workbenches, etc. with acts of habituation and repet ...
In graduate school I would rearrange my studio constantly. It wasn’t until after I learned of the term tabulology, while studying The Peter Principle. It is the study of unusual arrangements of desks, workbenches, etc. with acts of habituation and repet ...
W11011
04.04.2016
Writings Jobs - Fani Zguro
WWW
“Writings Jobs” is a project that has started in 2001, by developing texts in high dimensions in public spaces (are different productions from 2001 to 2002, but the most special one l made was at historical advertising Armani close to Via del Orso in ...
“Writings Jobs” is a project that has started in 2001, by developing texts in high dimensions in public spaces (are different productions from 2001 to 2002, but the most special one l made was at historical advertising Armani close to Via del Orso in ...