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.

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer

My House - Uri Tzaig

Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

Attitudine Diplomatica - Hermann Pitz

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

Broadway Musicals - Christian Marclay

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4726
26.05.2011
The Centralizer - Scott Richardson
WWW
The Centralizer The inspiration for this device came about to address the plight of the city-dweller trapped in a densely populated urban environment, who needed to decompress, ground themselves, and/or get in touch with nature and natural rhythms, a ...
The Centralizer The inspiration for this device came about to address the plight of the city-dweller trapped in a densely populated urban environment, who needed to decompress, ground themselves, and/or get in touch with nature and natural rhythms, a ...
W4532
25.05.2011
Sculpture Center In Practice  - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
KRISTIN JONES / ANDREW GINZEL Sculpture Center In Practice PROPOSAL In the open-air volume of the garden courtyard adjacent to the mass of the main building we propose to draw three precise geometries that the site itself suggests: Two planes of pa ...
KRISTIN JONES / ANDREW GINZEL Sculpture Center In Practice PROPOSAL In the open-air volume of the garden courtyard adjacent to the mass of the main building we propose to draw three precise geometries that the site itself suggests: Two planes of pa ...
W4505
25.05.2011
NEW NEW AGE - Eduardo Navarro
WWW
NEW NEW AGE The project seeks to capitalize the kinetic energy generated at a gym. Transforming the movement of the stationary bikes, running machines, work out machines, etc into electrical energy with the use of dynamos. The gym will be independent of ...
NEW NEW AGE The project seeks to capitalize the kinetic energy generated at a gym. Transforming the movement of the stationary bikes, running machines, work out machines, etc into electrical energy with the use of dynamos. The gym will be independent of ...
W4799
10.11.2011
Test
WWW
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
This is a test. Please ignore. ...
W5363
19.10.2012
A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays - Inbal Strauss
WWW
These sketches for a sculpture titled A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays, remain as a two dimensional proposal for the time being. As a sculptor, I use investigative sketching as a creative development tool for a sculpture that will event ...
These sketches for a sculpture titled A Constructivist Artifact for Mourning the Weekdays, remain as a two dimensional proposal for the time being. As a sculptor, I use investigative sketching as a creative development tool for a sculpture that will event ...
W4331
24.05.2011
PROJECT FOR EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS - Andrew Stooke
WWW
PROJECT FOR EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS While small shops, owned by large organisations, are closed for modernisation the staff are invited to collectively participate in a free visit to the Library at Alexandria. The visit only takes place if all staff, ...
PROJECT FOR EXCHANGE RADICAL MOMENTS While small shops, owned by large organisations, are closed for modernisation the staff are invited to collectively participate in a free visit to the Library at Alexandria. The visit only takes place if all staff, ...
W5235
09.10.2012
Two Years’ Untouched Garden  - WOOLOO
WWW
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
W4617
25.05.2011
Tia-Simone Gardner
WWW
The project that I am working on is a more involved video project, developed out of an installation of stills, that will re-narrate, and re-edit, Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film 'La noire de.' I began the ground work for this project over a year ago while thi ...
The project that I am working on is a more involved video project, developed out of an installation of stills, that will re-narrate, and re-edit, Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film 'La noire de.' I began the ground work for this project over a year ago while thi ...
W5374
19.10.2012
Broken Window - Alex Villar
WWW
Between '71 and '73, during the time Gordon Matta-Clark, Caroline Goodden and others ran the restaurant Food in Soho on 127 Prince Street, artists submitted projects for an event series hosted at the restaurant and called Sunday Night Guest Chef Dinners. ...
Between '71 and '73, during the time Gordon Matta-Clark, Caroline Goodden and others ran the restaurant Food in Soho on 127 Prince Street, artists submitted projects for an event series hosted at the restaurant and called Sunday Night Guest Chef Dinners. ...
W4693
26.05.2011
a flower every day - Nina Meledandri
WWW
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
W5252
11.10.2012
Scott Rogers
WWW
While I realize that Walter De Maria's Earth Room in New York is continuously groomed and manicured to prevent any trace of change, I wish / fantasize that it could be planted (if only for a very brief growing season). I don't think of this as iconoclasti ...
While I realize that Walter De Maria's Earth Room in New York is continuously groomed and manicured to prevent any trace of change, I wish / fantasize that it could be planted (if only for a very brief growing season). I don't think of this as iconoclasti ...
W5120
18.09.2012
Future Perfect - Deirdre M. Donoghue
WWW
Future Perfect Future Perfect is an archive, a library and an exchange centre consisting of memories contributed by people of all ages and backgrounds. Contributions include memories inscribed in various ways; short texts, objects and images with short ...
Future Perfect Future Perfect is an archive, a library and an exchange centre consisting of memories contributed by people of all ages and backgrounds. Contributions include memories inscribed in various ways; short texts, objects and images with short ...
W3996
21.05.2011
Jana Leo de blas
WWW
SEX-ROOM / SEX BOOTH-Jana Leo-2001 Where is the Sex-Room? Straight to the end on your right. A table for ironing, a room for bath, another for the bed, a dinning-table, a Laundromat a place for the laundry, an exercise facility: a gym….Space named by ...
SEX-ROOM / SEX BOOTH-Jana Leo-2001 Where is the Sex-Room? Straight to the end on your right. A table for ironing, a room for bath, another for the bed, a dinning-table, a Laundromat a place for the laundry, an exercise facility: a gym….Space named by ...
W4106
23.05.2011
"Grandes Toilettes de Ville" - Eddy Falconer
WWW
from Daphne Drillo in the Ecstasy of the Opposite Dimension: A Space Lesbian Adventure “Dr. Roper insisted on the merits of programmability in the context of long distance communication, and especially in guerilla warfare. FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF MU ...
from Daphne Drillo in the Ecstasy of the Opposite Dimension: A Space Lesbian Adventure “Dr. Roper insisted on the merits of programmability in the context of long distance communication, and especially in guerilla warfare. FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF MU ...
W4309
24.05.2011
“Face2 eyes spin” - dineo seshee bopape
WWW
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
W3698
16.05.2011
Future Studies - Javier Fresneda
WWW
About Future Studies is a process of iconographic and structural relationships across time and space. This series of images begins as an ironic adaptation of archaeological anastylosis concept; the technique of reconstruction of a monument i ...
About Future Studies is a process of iconographic and structural relationships across time and space. This series of images begins as an ironic adaptation of archaeological anastylosis concept; the technique of reconstruction of a monument i ...
W3518
11.05.2011
Stairway to Heaven - Alex Murdin
WWW
Stairway to Heaven Sometime in the 1800's steps were cut into it on Haytor, a rocky belvedere on Dartmoor in Devon, and an iron handrail was erected alongside. A Doctor Coker, a visitor in 1851, noted the "...stair step to enable the enervated and ping ...
Stairway to Heaven Sometime in the 1800's steps were cut into it on Haytor, a rocky belvedere on Dartmoor in Devon, and an iron handrail was erected alongside. A Doctor Coker, a visitor in 1851, noted the "...stair step to enable the enervated and ping ...
W3502
11.05.2011
Reproductions - David Groot
WWW
Reproductions, apart from being a substitute for a genuine experience, may protect the vulnerable original for all too impudent eyes and inappropriate curiosity. In "Re-production" this idea is taken literally; the slide projector projects a photographic ...
Reproductions, apart from being a substitute for a genuine experience, may protect the vulnerable original for all too impudent eyes and inappropriate curiosity. In "Re-production" this idea is taken literally; the slide projector projects a photographic ...
W4624
25.05.2011
I LOVE YOU - Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt / R & R Studios
WWW
I LOVE YOU, is a message from one person to another and from the city to everyone; an imaginary solution that celebrates the world of tomorrow as a place of camaraderie and friendship. I LOVE YOU brings people together with a universal message identifiabl ...
I LOVE YOU, is a message from one person to another and from the city to everyone; an imaginary solution that celebrates the world of tomorrow as a place of camaraderie and friendship. I LOVE YOU brings people together with a universal message identifiabl ...
U9711
01.01.1989
2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin
Unbuilt Roads
A competition won in 1989 Tower One: was proposed to sit in a roundabout next to the Chicago river .. 65' (feet) in height, the base an octagonal cast iron construction stands on a slightly mounded cast rubber base ... eight triangular beams thrust upw ...
A competition won in 1989 Tower One: was proposed to sit in a roundabout next to the Chicago river .. 65' (feet) in height, the base an octagonal cast iron construction stands on a slightly mounded cast rubber base ... eight triangular beams thrust upw ...
W3586
13.05.2011
A Starry Minute, 2007 - Katja Aglert
WWW
A Starry Minute proposes to collaborate with building owners in Times Square to turn off all of the commercial signage in the area (41 St. - 50 St. between Broadway and 7th Ave) simultaneously for one minute. A Starry Minute’s specific duration of 60 se ...
A Starry Minute proposes to collaborate with building owners in Times Square to turn off all of the commercial signage in the area (41 St. - 50 St. between Broadway and 7th Ave) simultaneously for one minute. A Starry Minute’s specific duration of 60 se ...
W5401
20.10.2012
Sculpture in a park - Alexandros Kaklamanos
WWW
Abstract of the Project Proposal Sculpture in a park During 2010-2011, a thorough research is conducted on the vortex. Now, a need is emerged to create a sculpture that will produce the vortex in a natural way, without using any electro mechanical assi ...
Abstract of the Project Proposal Sculpture in a park During 2010-2011, a thorough research is conducted on the vortex. Now, a need is emerged to create a sculpture that will produce the vortex in a natural way, without using any electro mechanical assi ...
D10782
09.09.2012
Stadtinstallation - Cezary Bodzianowski
DAAD
Witaj Kasiu Przesyłam Ci opis instalacji miejskiej Inspiracją do powstania tej pracy jest jedena z ostatnich faz ewolucji motyla. Tramwaje zainspirowaly mnie szczególnie,bo forma swą przypominają gąsienice.Chciałbym ,aby przez pewien czas(np:t ...
Witaj Kasiu Przesyłam Ci opis instalacji miejskiej Inspiracją do powstania tej pracy jest jedena z ostatnich faz ewolucji motyla. Tramwaje zainspirowaly mnie szczególnie,bo forma swą przypominają gąsienice.Chciałbym ,aby przez pewien czas(np:t ...
W4677
26.05.2011
storefront display sale - Jenny Polak
WWW
Alien Vernacular: storefront display sale Jenny Polak, In Practice Proposal for Sculpture Center, 2008 For this project I will to go round stores in different NY neighbourhoods, to collect (document by drawing and photographing) their designs for exte ...
Alien Vernacular: storefront display sale Jenny Polak, In Practice Proposal for Sculpture Center, 2008 For this project I will to go round stores in different NY neighbourhoods, to collect (document by drawing and photographing) their designs for exte ...
W4230
24.05.2011
Monument for bridges. - Dico Kruijsse
WWW
Monument for bridges. Visuals of a monumental sculpture to be made out of the remains of two countryside bridges. A road of about 20 kilometres long was rebuild. Therefore as much as 50 bridges accessing the farmlands where taken apart and demolished. ...
Monument for bridges. Visuals of a monumental sculpture to be made out of the remains of two countryside bridges. A road of about 20 kilometres long was rebuild. Therefore as much as 50 bridges accessing the farmlands where taken apart and demolished. ...
W4035
22.05.2011
Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 - Stefan Nikolaev
WWW
Stefan Nikolaev Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 “All aboard. The Gravy Plane is an artwork by Stefan Nikolaev that offers you the one and only chance to take a “smokers only” cross-Atlantic flight. ...
Stefan Nikolaev Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 “All aboard. The Gravy Plane is an artwork by Stefan Nikolaev that offers you the one and only chance to take a “smokers only” cross-Atlantic flight. ...