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.

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

The Clock - Ayse Erkmen

Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

Ceinture - Huang Ping Yong

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

No title, as the project only reached proposal stage - Rikrit Tiravanija

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4287
24.05.2011
Struggling with the Ancestors - Charlie Lucas
WWW
Charlie Lucas (Tin Man) Struggling with the Ancestors Proposal for Vision and Vernacular Eight African American Artists in Venice Presented by American Folk Art Museum at Fondaco dei Tedeschi, June 2011 Artist Statement I create beauty from t ...
Charlie Lucas (Tin Man) Struggling with the Ancestors Proposal for Vision and Vernacular Eight African American Artists in Venice Presented by American Folk Art Museum at Fondaco dei Tedeschi, June 2011 Artist Statement I create beauty from t ...
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 ...
W4535
25.05.2011
A simple videos - Zuzanna Janin
WWW
A simple videos - full of emotions and notice gallery of fantastic masterpieces only described by those who can talk about art from the heart and with the deep knowledge... Until now interviews with a.i.: Anda Rottenberg, Hanna Wroblewska, Andrzej Tu ...
A simple videos - full of emotions and notice gallery of fantastic masterpieces only described by those who can talk about art from the heart and with the deep knowledge... Until now interviews with a.i.: Anda Rottenberg, Hanna Wroblewska, Andrzej Tu ...
W4952
20.08.2012
made in america asembled in mexico - Paul Valadez
WWW
We will carry pieces of artwork created in Texas into Mexico where we will then hand assemble the work at a yet to be determined rented space. The artwork being brought into Mexico consists of 500 works on wood, metal, paper and other found objects. Th ...
We will carry pieces of artwork created in Texas into Mexico where we will then hand assemble the work at a yet to be determined rented space. The artwork being brought into Mexico consists of 500 works on wood, metal, paper and other found objects. Th ...
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 ...
W4276
24.05.2011
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium Camden, New Jersey ...
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium Camden, New Jersey ...
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 ...
W5007
30.08.2012
Berlin Childhood - Julia Brodauf
WWW
The project "Berlin Childhood" was proposed as an exhibition idea to Vattenfall for the Turbinenhalle at the Heizkraftwerk Moabit in combination with an edition. The edition will be realised, the exhibition project not... Und die Mädels mit ihren Rol ...
The project "Berlin Childhood" was proposed as an exhibition idea to Vattenfall for the Turbinenhalle at the Heizkraftwerk Moabit in combination with an edition. The edition will be realised, the exhibition project not... Und die Mädels mit ihren Rol ...
W4110
23.05.2011
The Circumference is Everywhere - Daniel R Small
WWW
The Circumference is Everywhere, 2011 100 miles Northeast of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert lies a city abandoned in advance of itself, a ruin that is an aerial monument to misguided optimism that was conceived of by Nat Mendelsohn and intended to r ...
The Circumference is Everywhere, 2011 100 miles Northeast of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert lies a city abandoned in advance of itself, a ruin that is an aerial monument to misguided optimism that was conceived of by Nat Mendelsohn and intended to r ...
W4763
28.05.2011
Postpone - Postpone
WWW
Postpone is a creative agency, not yet created (but coming soon) gathering smart artistic workers operating in design, film and photography. The agency (T.M., O.Q., Y.B. and A. the secretary) are based in Oslo, London and Provence. Very near from some of ...
Postpone is a creative agency, not yet created (but coming soon) gathering smart artistic workers operating in design, film and photography. The agency (T.M., O.Q., Y.B. and A. the secretary) are based in Oslo, London and Provence. Very near from some of ...
W3543
12.05.2011
L'art mis à nu par ses artistes, même... Rifiuto della Creazione / Everything has been done, so why do „everything” ? - Gregor Rozanski
WWW
working title and object(s) as complex game of meanings. this is a meeting of ideas of two rebels form different backgrounds - artist Marcel Duchamp and theoretican and activist Antonio Negri. Negri and Duchamp have one the same opinion that is be ...
working title and object(s) as complex game of meanings. this is a meeting of ideas of two rebels form different backgrounds - artist Marcel Duchamp and theoretican and activist Antonio Negri. Negri and Duchamp have one the same opinion that is be ...
W4861
09.08.2012
Aviation Memories - Alexander Hahn
WWW
Aviation Memories. Response to an 1986 open call for an installation proposal by Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. Instead of the usual sketches, I submitted a simulation of the proposed project on video tape using the Macintosh program Mac Draw and the Fair ...
Aviation Memories. Response to an 1986 open call for an installation proposal by Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. Instead of the usual sketches, I submitted a simulation of the proposed project on video tape using the Macintosh program Mac Draw and the Fair ...
W3838
19.05.2011
Nicole Mortiboys
WWW
The images submitted to AUP are pages taken from a book on how to draw cartoons. (The title of the book has been forgotten). The book was found at Central Library, whilst studying on the MA fine Art course at, Birmingham City University, Margaret S ...
The images submitted to AUP are pages taken from a book on how to draw cartoons. (The title of the book has been forgotten). The book was found at Central Library, whilst studying on the MA fine Art course at, Birmingham City University, Margaret S ...
W4217
24.05.2011
24 hours Suicide  - Costa Vece
WWW
24 hours Suicide von Costa Vece für Art Unlimited Basel 2003 24 hours Suicide: Das Wort Suicide (Selbstmord) wird temporär auf das grösste Gebäude der Schweiz, den Messeturm in Basel, während der Art Basel ‘03 angebracht. Der Mes ...
24 hours Suicide von Costa Vece für Art Unlimited Basel 2003 24 hours Suicide: Das Wort Suicide (Selbstmord) wird temporär auf das grösste Gebäude der Schweiz, den Messeturm in Basel, während der Art Basel ‘03 angebracht. Der Mes ...
W4224
24.05.2011
The Hand of God - Magnus Monfeldt
WWW
The Hand of God This unrealized art project from 2005 involves casting the left hand of Escolastico Berto Mendez; a famous Diego Maradona look-a-like who has sacrificed his own identity to make a living being photographed around Buenos Aires suburb La ...
The Hand of God This unrealized art project from 2005 involves casting the left hand of Escolastico Berto Mendez; a famous Diego Maradona look-a-like who has sacrificed his own identity to make a living being photographed around Buenos Aires suburb La ...
W5208
04.10.2012
Lure - Noa Nahari
WWW
Noa Nahari Name: Lure Year: 2013/4 Neo Marxism claims the media are a tool to handle capitalistic power that wishes to exploit the working class to earn more money. For example, communication channels will produce programs that specifically attract a ...
Noa Nahari Name: Lure Year: 2013/4 Neo Marxism claims the media are a tool to handle capitalistic power that wishes to exploit the working class to earn more money. For example, communication channels will produce programs that specifically attract a ...
W4341
24.05.2011
“Immediate work” - Janet Stafford
WWW
“Immediate work” is the way I describe my new work and proposed work because the basis for it is a process that involves walking into the woods or walking outside anywhere, being aware of what I am noticing, and then using what I am noticing to make w ...
“Immediate work” is the way I describe my new work and proposed work because the basis for it is a process that involves walking into the woods or walking outside anywhere, being aware of what I am noticing, and then using what I am noticing to make w ...
W3661
15.05.2011
Efrat Kedem
WWW
Project description All over the world there are bus stops, They serves us as buildings for a fleeting moment, a man passes them and wait some time before the bus arrives, then, continues on his way, We stand or sit in stations for a few minutes, some ...
Project description All over the world there are bus stops, They serves us as buildings for a fleeting moment, a man passes them and wait some time before the bus arrives, then, continues on his way, We stand or sit in stations for a few minutes, some ...
W10357
18.04.2014
After The Flood - Ingrid Mayrhofer
WWW
This project marks the last exhibition of a selection of works on paper from my past 30 years in printmaking, photography and painting. During the July 2013 storm, my basement studio was flooded, and 60 pieces of my artwork were damaged. While the water d ...
This project marks the last exhibition of a selection of works on paper from my past 30 years in printmaking, photography and painting. During the July 2013 storm, my basement studio was flooded, and 60 pieces of my artwork were damaged. While the water d ...
W3505
11.05.2011
Wishing Way - Ian Amell
WWW
Huge wishbones, preferably made of translucent fibreglas with interior lighting or alternately of concrete. They would be large enough for people to walk under them easily. They would be constructed in multiples to create a passageway. Typically North ...
Huge wishbones, preferably made of translucent fibreglas with interior lighting or alternately of concrete. They would be large enough for people to walk under them easily. They would be constructed in multiples to create a passageway. Typically North ...
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 ...
W5242
09.10.2012
Taking over the sea - Slobodan Stosic
WWW
Slobodan stosic “Taking over the sea” Proposal for land art project This sketch for geopolitical land art project is also a proposal which offers solution for balkan mentality (mostly concerning ex- Yugoslavian countries) which is riven by et ...
Slobodan stosic “Taking over the sea” Proposal for land art project This sketch for geopolitical land art project is also a proposal which offers solution for balkan mentality (mostly concerning ex- Yugoslavian countries) which is riven by et ...
W5376
19.10.2012
FIRE! - Mary Behm-Steinberg
WWW
Statement for the bronze plaque (or documentation in the museum)*** Everywhere we look, the common person and the environment are under attack. Global warming; crop failures; poverty and starvation; the disappearance of the middle class and as America ...
Statement for the bronze plaque (or documentation in the museum)*** Everywhere we look, the common person and the environment are under attack. Global warming; crop failures; poverty and starvation; the disappearance of the middle class and as America ...
W5100
13.09.2012
je vois passer les roses - Copa & Sordes
WWW
One more idea for ornaments in public space and in private life. See PDF ...
One more idea for ornaments in public space and in private life. See PDF ...
W10630
09.07.2014
Stitch In Time - Joel Leibowitz
WWW
20 Foot High x 12 foot circumference Spool of Thread; 3" foam core thread / yellow/ aluminum spool . The large spool of thread is positioned next to Cleopatra's "Needle" ( obelisk ) in Central Park , NYC. Location behind Metropolitan Museum of Art. ...
20 Foot High x 12 foot circumference Spool of Thread; 3" foam core thread / yellow/ aluminum spool . The large spool of thread is positioned next to Cleopatra's "Needle" ( obelisk ) in Central Park , NYC. Location behind Metropolitan Museum of Art. ...
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 ...