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 for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

Post Photographic apparatus - Steven Pippin

A House of Dust - Alison Knowles

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Billboard - Jimmie Durham

Battery Park City - Per Kirkeby

Monumento all'agricoltura 1969-70 - Alighiero Boetti

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

Projekt für die Landschaft des Mont-de-Sene (Burgund) im Rahmen eines öffentlichen Auftrags des französischen Kultusministeriums - Markus Raetz

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4039
22.05.2011
Transcendence , 2010 - Shuli Sade
WWW
Transcendence , 2010, by Shuli Sadé 60 photographic panels of 20 x 20 Inches each, printed on duraclear, fused glass/acrylic, natural light/ suspended to create moving shadows “Tran.scen.dence completes a cycle of the envisioned and the built. It ...
Transcendence , 2010, by Shuli Sadé 60 photographic panels of 20 x 20 Inches each, printed on duraclear, fused glass/acrylic, natural light/ suspended to create moving shadows “Tran.scen.dence completes a cycle of the envisioned and the built. It ...
W5169
26.09.2012
The winnipeg free museum  - Kendra Place
WWW
The winnipeg free museum (2009–2010) was an impossible, dividual artists' project. If Museums are being built as walled inspiration, promising experience and claiming to face the (carceral/) future, would the non-built or dematerialized, situated within ...
The winnipeg free museum (2009–2010) was an impossible, dividual artists' project. If Museums are being built as walled inspiration, promising experience and claiming to face the (carceral/) future, would the non-built or dematerialized, situated within ...
W4235
24.05.2011
STRESS - Fred Perie
WWW
STRESS is fictitious industrial construction, whose only aim is to draw a perfectly straight red line that strikes through a wide landscape on the banks of Loire river estuary. It is drawn over 2 km between an oil refinery and some isolated grove, where i ...
STRESS is fictitious industrial construction, whose only aim is to draw a perfectly straight red line that strikes through a wide landscape on the banks of Loire river estuary. It is drawn over 2 km between an oil refinery and some isolated grove, where i ...
W3544
12.05.2011
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR - CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR
WWW
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR Art of recent decades experienced deeply the idea of „Escape from institutions to the streets”. It gave the birth to countless artistic projects in public spaces, interventions and site-specific installations. B ...
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR Art of recent decades experienced deeply the idea of „Escape from institutions to the streets”. It gave the birth to countless artistic projects in public spaces, interventions and site-specific installations. B ...
D10809
01.01.2001
Center of Cosmic Energy - Ilya and Emilia Kabakov
DAAD
Proposal, Essen, Kolkerei 2001 -see attached pdfs- ...
Proposal, Essen, Kolkerei 2001 -see attached pdfs- ...
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 ...
W3845
19.05.2011
Interactive Playground - GH Hovagimyan
WWW
Abstract The interactive playground project consists of three works. 1. An interactive Seesaw 2. A jump rope machine 3. An interactive spiral slide The interactive seesaw has recently been completed as part of an LMCC residency at Governor’s ...
Abstract The interactive playground project consists of three works. 1. An interactive Seesaw 2. A jump rope machine 3. An interactive spiral slide The interactive seesaw has recently been completed as part of an LMCC residency at Governor’s ...
W3678
15.05.2011
The Bardo Board Game Project - barbara russell
WWW
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
W4722
26.05.2011
Broc Blegen
WWW
This is a proposal for a people's memorial in response to Hurricane Katrina, in which absurdly tall sandbag walls are built around important US flag poles across the city. The sandbags would be filled and stacked by each local community during day-long.. ...
This is a proposal for a people's memorial in response to Hurricane Katrina, in which absurdly tall sandbag walls are built around important US flag poles across the city. The sandbags would be filled and stacked by each local community during day-long.. ...
W3823
19.05.2011
Unproduction Network - Stefan Riebel
WWW
10 | to not realise | media space effort, time | June 2009 After one month of intense research and conceptual effort I have fully worked out a new interactive crossmedia project. Kunst ist heute fast überall zu jeder Zeit und für jeden Zweck v ...
10 | to not realise | media space effort, time | June 2009 After one month of intense research and conceptual effort I have fully worked out a new interactive crossmedia project. Kunst ist heute fast überall zu jeder Zeit und für jeden Zweck v ...
W4857
08.08.2012
A Comedy Routine - Dan Riley
WWW
Comedy Routine A, is a comedy routine that was written but never performed, due to shyness and perhaps bad material... COMEDY ROUTINE A So, its been gettin’ real cold lately, jeez. [Optional: Have you guys been feeling this?] We went out and ...
Comedy Routine A, is a comedy routine that was written but never performed, due to shyness and perhaps bad material... COMEDY ROUTINE A So, its been gettin’ real cold lately, jeez. [Optional: Have you guys been feeling this?] We went out and ...
W3575
12.05.2011
CD COVER SCULPTURE. Concepts. - Javier Lamela
WWW
It sums up a trip to a temporary place where you live and work for a period of time. It depicts a leaf, not a seed which calls for roots, transported by wind, in a movement that goes along with the Planet Earth. It is, in fact, a digital leaf consisting o ...
It sums up a trip to a temporary place where you live and work for a period of time. It depicts a leaf, not a seed which calls for roots, transported by wind, in a movement that goes along with the Planet Earth. It is, in fact, a digital leaf consisting o ...
W4912
14.08.2012
Kiarash Alimi
WWW
An artwork for a better understanding of the necessity of Arab-Israeli peace. This artwork is based on the metonymic nature of the hebrew word eretz meaning land, soil and ground. Land that is for israelites to take back with bloody wars against other ...
An artwork for a better understanding of the necessity of Arab-Israeli peace. This artwork is based on the metonymic nature of the hebrew word eretz meaning land, soil and ground. Land that is for israelites to take back with bloody wars against other ...
W3975
21.05.2011
From Cancer to Cosmos - Peter Briggs
WWW
My project forms a link between the subterranean, a rarely explored urban space, and the five principal stars of a particular constellation, Cancer. In a nutshell the idea is to construct an underground network linking five manhole covers, the positions o ...
My project forms a link between the subterranean, a rarely explored urban space, and the five principal stars of a particular constellation, Cancer. In a nutshell the idea is to construct an underground network linking five manhole covers, the positions o ...
U9617
01.07.1991
Project pour le parc de sculpture de Vassiviére - Paul-Armand Gette
Unbuilt Roads
Un bloc de granite choisi dans la partie boisée de l'île sera considéré comme étant le centre d'une circonférence de 25m. de rayon, qui, sans que cela soit indiqué sur place d'aucune façon, restera vierge de toutes interventions (aménagements, co ...
Un bloc de granite choisi dans la partie boisée de l'île sera considéré comme étant le centre d'une circonférence de 25m. de rayon, qui, sans que cela soit indiqué sur place d'aucune façon, restera vierge de toutes interventions (aménagements, co ...
W4701
26.05.2011
Transferable skills / Compétances transfèrables - Erin Fortier and Scott Soullière
WWW
Transferable skills | Compétances transfèrables A site-specific installation in Ford City, Windsor-Detroit in the aftermath of the North American automotive industry crash. Both Soullière and Fortier were born and raised in Windsor.... ...
Transferable skills | Compétances transfèrables A site-specific installation in Ford City, Windsor-Detroit in the aftermath of the North American automotive industry crash. Both Soullière and Fortier were born and raised in Windsor.... ...
W4696
26.05.2011
Color Choices. Participatory Sculptures - Richard Jochum
WWW
Color Choices. Participatory Sculptures Short Description In 2005 I've participated in an open call for a public art project. The project included the redesign of 5 station buildings along a railroad connecting small villages in the middle of the Au ...
Color Choices. Participatory Sculptures Short Description In 2005 I've participated in an open call for a public art project. The project included the redesign of 5 station buildings along a railroad connecting small villages in the middle of the Au ...
W5337
18.10.2012
how to recall what never happened
WWW
The idea stem from Lis’81 – The International Drawing Biennale of Lisbon, which was expected to take place at the National Gallery of Modern Art of Belém, but ended up consumed in a fire, during its installation, the only thing left is the catalogue. ...
The idea stem from Lis’81 – The International Drawing Biennale of Lisbon, which was expected to take place at the National Gallery of Modern Art of Belém, but ended up consumed in a fire, during its installation, the only thing left is the catalogue. ...
W5314
17.10.2012
Panikon deima - Cynthia Reynolds
WWW
An unrealized electrostatic installation Below is part of a detailed proposal prepared for me by an organometallic chemist I contacted via the Internet in 2005 and corresponded with over a two-year period. He had a website expressing a personal interes ...
An unrealized electrostatic installation Below is part of a detailed proposal prepared for me by an organometallic chemist I contacted via the Internet in 2005 and corresponded with over a two-year period. He had a website expressing a personal interes ...
W4541
25.05.2011
Project SUN RITE “BAPTISME”  - Maria Dundakova
WWW
Project SUN RITE “BAPTISME” The central theme of the Biennale Sao Paulo was “The Holistic Global Tendencies of Humankind at the End of the 20th Century”. Based on the personal invitation of the jury of the Biennale, I further developed the pro ...
Project SUN RITE “BAPTISME” The central theme of the Biennale Sao Paulo was “The Holistic Global Tendencies of Humankind at the End of the 20th Century”. Based on the personal invitation of the jury of the Biennale, I further developed the pro ...
W4516
25.05.2011
Viktor Timofeev
WWW
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
W3954
20.05.2011
Doug Fogelson
WWW
This is a project to make a house shape out of chain link fence material, razor wire, fluorescent lights and plants. It was intended as a comment on Guantanamo Prison and the promise of American society. 10.4.06 Dear Mr. Littman, We would l ...
This is a project to make a house shape out of chain link fence material, razor wire, fluorescent lights and plants. It was intended as a comment on Guantanamo Prison and the promise of American society. 10.4.06 Dear Mr. Littman, We would l ...
W4875
09.08.2012
Tradutraditore - Michele Molinari
WWW
TRADUTRADITORE from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Description Development Artists DESCRIPTION from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Tradutraditore is an in ...
TRADUTRADITORE from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Description Development Artists DESCRIPTION from Italian traduttore/traditore, translator/traitor; human 1, machine 0. Tradutraditore is an in ...
W5470
21.10.2012
Idiot Savante: Subversive Failure  - Andrea Liu
WWW
The notion of an "idiot savant" is someone who is simultaneously above and below normative standards of competence, imbuing them with a sublime uselessness. Their virtuoso (savant) cannot be instrumentalized by the rest of society for productive ends, be ...
The notion of an "idiot savant" is someone who is simultaneously above and below normative standards of competence, imbuing them with a sublime uselessness. Their virtuoso (savant) cannot be instrumentalized by the rest of society for productive ends, be ...
W3731
18.05.2011
Tower - Felippe Moraes
WWW
The installation “Tower” is constituted by a 7m scaffold containing in its top a 3000w smoke machine from which, every five minutes, a large cloud is created and is naturally dispersed. ...
The installation “Tower” is constituted by a 7m scaffold containing in its top a 3000w smoke machine from which, every five minutes, a large cloud is created and is naturally dispersed. ...
W3992
21.05.2011
Ranjit Sidhu
WWW
In a fierce contest in 1961, I was commissioned to create drawings based on “Devotion to Duty”, “Dignity of Labour” and, “Work is Worship” – the themes floated by 505 Command Workshop, Ministry of Defense, Govt. of India for eight large wall ...
In a fierce contest in 1961, I was commissioned to create drawings based on “Devotion to Duty”, “Dignity of Labour” and, “Work is Worship” – the themes floated by 505 Command Workshop, Ministry of Defense, Govt. of India for eight large wall ...