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.

KEEPING IN TOUCH - Allan Kaprow

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

Engel-Detektor - Jakob Gautel & Jason Karaïndros

The insurer - Fabrice Hybert

The bridge according to Jeong-a's dream - Koo Jeong

Unrealized Turtles 1967 - Joseph Grigely

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

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

Post Photographic apparatus - Steven Pippin

Progetto per Gerry Schum - Guiseppe Penone

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3626
14.05.2011
Détente Reflection 195 - Jenny Zhe Chang
WWW
Détente Reflection 195 will be a series of 195 sculptures of intercut, deconstructed and reconstructed table tennis bats that uncannily explores cultural fusions and disconnections between East and West. The word détente of the title refers to the perma ...
Détente Reflection 195 will be a series of 195 sculptures of intercut, deconstructed and reconstructed table tennis bats that uncannily explores cultural fusions and disconnections between East and West. The word détente of the title refers to the perma ...
W4083
23.05.2011
The Queen’s Sconce - Anna Walker
WWW
The Queen’s Sconce brief: to enhance the new Queen’s Sconce bridge, which was installed in summer 2010. The commission - to respond to the new bridge, the setting, Civil War History and the story of the Sconce itself. The existing design takes its ins ...
The Queen’s Sconce brief: to enhance the new Queen’s Sconce bridge, which was installed in summer 2010. The commission - to respond to the new bridge, the setting, Civil War History and the story of the Sconce itself. The existing design takes its ins ...
W5013
30.08.2012
Children of the Enemy - Edward Walsh
WWW
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
W3493
11.05.2011
SEX CHAT KARAOKE - Sally-Ann Blaise
WWW
SEX CHAT KARAOKE A Selection of TEXT collected by artist through late night sex chat rooms is printed in duplicate and arranged at the corner of a stage, upon which a small FUNK BAND is playing a GROOVE. audience participate by selecting text in tandem ...
SEX CHAT KARAOKE A Selection of TEXT collected by artist through late night sex chat rooms is printed in duplicate and arranged at the corner of a stage, upon which a small FUNK BAND is playing a GROOVE. audience participate by selecting text in tandem ...
W5037
01.09.2012
Cultivating the Field of the Absurd - Barbara Nemitz
WWW
Title: " Cultivating the Field of the Absurd" The work is to be made in the landscape. In an open part with a large plain - some shrubberies and trees may be around - an extensive embroidery is to be seen on the ground. It is made out of silky shimmer ...
Title: " Cultivating the Field of the Absurd" The work is to be made in the landscape. In an open part with a large plain - some shrubberies and trees may be around - an extensive embroidery is to be seen on the ground. It is made out of silky shimmer ...
W4353
25.05.2011
Circular escalator - Ricardo Gomes
WWW
Circular escalator Through our research of the City of Perth’s master plan, the public success of the revitalization of Forrest Place not only depends upon the current restructuring already under way in the vicinity, but also upon the creation of a n ...
Circular escalator Through our research of the City of Perth’s master plan, the public success of the revitalization of Forrest Place not only depends upon the current restructuring already under way in the vicinity, but also upon the creation of a n ...
W5436
20.10.2012
the “A” project  - Khalil Charif
WWW
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
W5442
20.10.2012
GAZING BALL - Ann Daly
WWW
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING IV: "GAZING BALL" for the Crystal Palace, Retiro Park, Madrid, Spain: A giant stainless steel ball fabrication. Mirror-like surface reflects 'nature' - the surroundings- architecture-etc. An 'image' co ...
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING IV: "GAZING BALL" for the Crystal Palace, Retiro Park, Madrid, Spain: A giant stainless steel ball fabrication. Mirror-like surface reflects 'nature' - the surroundings- architecture-etc. An 'image' co ...
W5435
20.10.2012
ART FOR THE CITY - Matej Metlikovič
WWW
Unrealised projects ART FOR THE CITY, 2008 I'm sending you two photos of the unrealised projects created in 2008 on the theme »Art for the city«. The Society of Ljubljana's visual artists invited artists of Ljubljana to contribute ideas how to make ...
Unrealised projects ART FOR THE CITY, 2008 I'm sending you two photos of the unrealised projects created in 2008 on the theme »Art for the city«. The Society of Ljubljana's visual artists invited artists of Ljubljana to contribute ideas how to make ...
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 ...
W5402
20.10.2012
AHIMSA  - Tiziana Pers
WWW
The project is composed by a series of photograph, a performance, and an installation that will remain after the action. Ahimsa is an ancient Sanskrit term meaning 'do not harm' (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important tenet of t ...
The project is composed by a series of photograph, a performance, and an installation that will remain after the action. Ahimsa is an ancient Sanskrit term meaning 'do not harm' (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important tenet of t ...
W5445
20.10.2012
I AM BEING SERIOUS, THIS IS SERIOUS. - Sarah Witt
WWW
Supplemental thoughts about this piece, and why it has remained an unrealized project A few months ago, I had a studio visit with a faculty member of the residency I was attending at the Banff Centre in Canada. He gave me some very poignant advice (I e ...
Supplemental thoughts about this piece, and why it has remained an unrealized project A few months ago, I had a studio visit with a faculty member of the residency I was attending at the Banff Centre in Canada. He gave me some very poignant advice (I e ...
W5902
18.10.2013
Waterland - Matthijs Muller
WWW
Waterland is floating like a boat but has the appearance of an island. The busy city life suggested by the lampposts and traffic signs is alienated by the flexibility of the islands ground surface. Every wave in the water makes the pavement and poles mov ...
Waterland is floating like a boat but has the appearance of an island. The busy city life suggested by the lampposts and traffic signs is alienated by the flexibility of the islands ground surface. Every wave in the water makes the pavement and poles mov ...
W4383
25.05.2011
Lunch - Tra Bouscaren
WWW
Tra Bouscaren: Lunch For the "Lunch" project, I propose to cut off a piece of my own ass and have it grown in a laboratory until it reaches some kind of meal-like proportions, and then eat it as a performance. In addition, I would like to to make ...
Tra Bouscaren: Lunch For the "Lunch" project, I propose to cut off a piece of my own ass and have it grown in a laboratory until it reaches some kind of meal-like proportions, and then eat it as a performance. In addition, I would like to to make ...
W5749
22.04.2013
"Blinded Fish" - Jeane Doucas
WWW
a dance-theatre performance, based in Butoh aesthetics. The theme: the schizophrenia and the blindness we live in our day life. These photos were photographed during a rehearsal, in 2011. ...
a dance-theatre performance, based in Butoh aesthetics. The theme: the schizophrenia and the blindness we live in our day life. These photos were photographed during a rehearsal, in 2011. ...
W5274
15.10.2012
Regret - Francesca Arri
WWW
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...
Francesca Arri Regret 2010, onions, size ambient In a place of forced passage, without windows, which can be accessed through a curtain, you find yourself in front of a floor completely covered with onions, cut almost all the user will have to st ...
W4372
25.05.2011
Ren Jie
WWW
In Chinese tradition,touch the land with feet is very important to one's health and life. If you are far away from the natural land,the soil,the water,the grass,you will become uncomfortable and sick. But today,urbanization make more and more peopl ...
In Chinese tradition,touch the land with feet is very important to one's health and life. If you are far away from the natural land,the soil,the water,the grass,you will become uncomfortable and sick. But today,urbanization make more and more peopl ...
W3525
11.05.2011
Paper Wave - Tilly Shiner
WWW
Drawing for a human- scale wave, made from paper and biro pen. Using only the pressure of the pen to induce sculptural form from a flat surface. Referencing a common motif of the sublime, this work suggests something ordinary with extraordinar ...
Drawing for a human- scale wave, made from paper and biro pen. Using only the pressure of the pen to induce sculptural form from a flat surface. Referencing a common motif of the sublime, this work suggests something ordinary with extraordinar ...
W4683
26.05.2011
B/M/E: time reconfigured onsite & online 2002-2032  - Robert Lawrence
WWW
B/M/E: time reconfigured onsite & online 2002-2032 Beginning/Middle/End is a 30 year series of site-specific installations/performances/interventions, with augmenting web components. Choreographing threads of multiple strategies through physical and vir ...
B/M/E: time reconfigured onsite & online 2002-2032 Beginning/Middle/End is a 30 year series of site-specific installations/performances/interventions, with augmenting web components. Choreographing threads of multiple strategies through physical and vir ...
W3691
16.05.2011
Rolf Hinterecker
WWW
The train will be fixed in a steal frame construction Most of the complex construction is placed under the water surface. Counterbalances in the cube are needed for the balance. Several boom supports floating short above the ground will protect an overset ...
The train will be fixed in a steal frame construction Most of the complex construction is placed under the water surface. Counterbalances in the cube are needed for the balance. Several boom supports floating short above the ground will protect an overset ...
W3494
11.05.2011
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit - Elvia Pyburn-Wilk
WWW
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit “The street signs for our event are all hand-written. The directions are painted over signs from past events. These handwritten signs are like the bus line that no longer runs.”1 --Phili ...
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit “The street signs for our event are all hand-written. The directions are painted over signs from past events. These handwritten signs are like the bus line that no longer runs.”1 --Phili ...
W4721
26.05.2011
The Boston Corbett Project - Anna Bruinsma
WWW
THE BOSTON CORBETT PROJECT Location: San Francisco to Concordia Filmed by Anna Bruinsma, Performed by Lauren Kronemyer The Boston Corbett Project is an unrealized collaborative experimental documentary. The subject was a nineteen-year-old girl (Kron ...
THE BOSTON CORBETT PROJECT Location: San Francisco to Concordia Filmed by Anna Bruinsma, Performed by Lauren Kronemyer The Boston Corbett Project is an unrealized collaborative experimental documentary. The subject was a nineteen-year-old girl (Kron ...
W3527
11.05.2011
POINT & SHOOT @70 MPH - Ellen Jantzen
WWW
​I took a series of photos out of the passenger window while on a 6,000 mile road trip in spring from Missouri to California and back using a point and shoot camera. I used this type of camera deliberately to capture images in a very spontaneous way. Ma ...
​I took a series of photos out of the passenger window while on a 6,000 mile road trip in spring from Missouri to California and back using a point and shoot camera. I used this type of camera deliberately to capture images in a very spontaneous way. Ma ...
W3931
20.05.2011
Random Identity Forum (“RIF”) - ANNA LASCARI
WWW
The “Identity Flag” can be reviewed at: www.annalascari.net/RIF Project Description “RIF” (Random Identity Forum) is an interactive installation that allows users to participate in and comment on the political and socio-economic policie ...
The “Identity Flag” can be reviewed at: www.annalascari.net/RIF Project Description “RIF” (Random Identity Forum) is an interactive installation that allows users to participate in and comment on the political and socio-economic policie ...
W3910
20.05.2011
Dutton and Swindells
WWW
A list of all the possible endings of everything that could ever end. Impossible to complete of course, in the positivity of its construction it undoes its negation and is always becoming something new. ...
A list of all the possible endings of everything that could ever end. Impossible to complete of course, in the positivity of its construction it undoes its negation and is always becoming something new. ...
U9848
01.01.1997
Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler
Unbuilt Roads
Miscellaneous Instruments FORM 5:I-3.02 RIGHT-OF-PRIVACY RELEASE Short Form [Name of Motion Picture Company] [Address] Dear Sirs: I am one of the persons of whom [name of author] wrote in his book [name of book]. You are p ...
Miscellaneous Instruments FORM 5:I-3.02 RIGHT-OF-PRIVACY RELEASE Short Form [Name of Motion Picture Company] [Address] Dear Sirs: I am one of the persons of whom [name of author] wrote in his book [name of book]. You are p ...