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.

AUSSICHTSTURM, HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS), SCHWIMMBECKEN, FREIE FAHRT - Maria Eichhorn

Social Resource Project For the Munich Olympics - Stephen Willats

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

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

Brücke Wein-Kanal Arch. Hermann Czech, Wein - Franz West

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

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

Relatum (Iron Plate and Stone) - Lee Ufan

Battery Park City - Per Kirkeby

Passage - Richard Wentworth

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4258
24.05.2011
A Dead Voice from a Lost Age - John Patrick Egan
WWW
So, the work I would like to submit is (was?) intended to bear the moniker (working title) A Dead Voice from a Lost Age. The concept for the piece derived, initially, from my training as a musician, specifically my specialisation in the baroque and transi ...
So, the work I would like to submit is (was?) intended to bear the moniker (working title) A Dead Voice from a Lost Age. The concept for the piece derived, initially, from my training as a musician, specifically my specialisation in the baroque and transi ...
W4181
24.05.2011
Gallery Tour - Claudia Ulisses
WWW
Project: Gallery Tour Year: 2001 Artist: Claudia Ulisses Gallery Tour is a journey into the empty interior of some art galleries or museums (art spaces), where the visitor is literally transported by a chair that moves through the space. The visit ...
Project: Gallery Tour Year: 2001 Artist: Claudia Ulisses Gallery Tour is a journey into the empty interior of some art galleries or museums (art spaces), where the visitor is literally transported by a chair that moves through the space. The visit ...
W5186
30.09.2012
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’)  - Betty Nigianni
WWW
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’) - - Oil and acrylic paints, inkjet prints, tissue paper, and straw on canvas, 80X120 cm approx. (2010-11) Initiated during a course at the Slade School of Fine Art, this experimental painting develo ...
Untitled (‘Memory: Un/Successful, In/Complete’) - - Oil and acrylic paints, inkjet prints, tissue paper, and straw on canvas, 80X120 cm approx. (2010-11) Initiated during a course at the Slade School of Fine Art, this experimental painting develo ...
W4376
25.05.2011
Dreams of Little Nemo  - MICHEL GERARD
WWW
Dreams of Little Nemo is a public sculpture about a personage in a comic book that I read as a child during the Second World War in occupied Paris. Little Nemo in Slumberland is a book about a scared small boy with whom I identified completely. He was ...
Dreams of Little Nemo is a public sculpture about a personage in a comic book that I read as a child during the Second World War in occupied Paris. Little Nemo in Slumberland is a book about a scared small boy with whom I identified completely. He was ...
W5151
24.09.2012
Studiolo - Angelika Böck
WWW
STUDIOLO (seit 2006) ist eine als Archiv funktionierende Klanginstallation, die VertreterInnen verschiedener Disziplinen rund um die Thematik Erkenntnis befragt. Auf den ersten Blick gibt es nicht viel zu sehen: ein weißer, mit Texten bedeckter Kubus, de ...
STUDIOLO (seit 2006) ist eine als Archiv funktionierende Klanginstallation, die VertreterInnen verschiedener Disziplinen rund um die Thematik Erkenntnis befragt. Auf den ersten Blick gibt es nicht viel zu sehen: ein weißer, mit Texten bedeckter Kubus, de ...
W4748
27.05.2011
Retail Therapy - Double A Projects (A. Robles & A. Stein)
WWW
PROPOSAL Title of project: Retail Therapy By: Athena Robles and Anna Stein (aka Double A Projects) Similar to our public project Global Free Store, Retail Therapy is a non-commercial storefront and exhibition that would offer various service ...
PROPOSAL Title of project: Retail Therapy By: Athena Robles and Anna Stein (aka Double A Projects) Similar to our public project Global Free Store, Retail Therapy is a non-commercial storefront and exhibition that would offer various service ...
W4892
10.08.2012
Ben Sloat
WWW
A golden inflatable, each uniquely patterned, is produced in a glass case upon the viewer's initiative (stepping on a red button). The artwork very slowly inflates (3-5 minutes), then is suddenly released! It rises and flies out an above window. ...
A golden inflatable, each uniquely patterned, is produced in a glass case upon the viewer's initiative (stepping on a red button). The artwork very slowly inflates (3-5 minutes), then is suddenly released! It rises and flies out an above window. ...
U9774
01.01.1994
Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia
Unbuilt Roads
l'ecran video Geant construit dans le prolongement de l'architecture de l'opera de la ville (Philipszaal) difuse en continue une image de la mer inversée. (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Cout élevé. (Trop!) ...
l'ecran video Geant construit dans le prolongement de l'architecture de l'opera de la ville (Philipszaal) difuse en continue une image de la mer inversée. (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Cout élevé. (Trop!) ...
W4037
22.05.2011
Lynn Carlson
WWW
An Installation, on site, composed of baskets and crates on waist high tables offering musical instruments while supermarket music wafts through the space. An art project is full of possibilities. For the artist, it may mean expanding on a theme. F ...
An Installation, on site, composed of baskets and crates on waist high tables offering musical instruments while supermarket music wafts through the space. An art project is full of possibilities. For the artist, it may mean expanding on a theme. F ...
W4653
25.05.2011
Replacing the stream‐of‐consciousness - urssa severa
WWW
Replacing the stream‐of‐consciousness by Urssa Severa “Welcome, O life, I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” Inspired by this declaratio ...
Replacing the stream‐of‐consciousness by Urssa Severa “Welcome, O life, I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” Inspired by this declaratio ...
W4458
25.05.2011
Transfer of a palm tree - Rahel Hegnauer
WWW
Transfer of a palm tree (Paris, 2007) (Unrealised project idea developed after realisation of a temporary garden in Paris, 2006 / 07 by Rahel Hegnauer / www.rahelhegnauer.ch.) Summary of the project idea Transfer: Transfer of a palm tree - usually a dec ...
Transfer of a palm tree (Paris, 2007) (Unrealised project idea developed after realisation of a temporary garden in Paris, 2006 / 07 by Rahel Hegnauer / www.rahelhegnauer.ch.) Summary of the project idea Transfer: Transfer of a palm tree - usually a dec ...
W3959
20.05.2011
Wall - Jeanne Friscia
WWW
"Wall" is a text-based installation of each of George Bush's State of the Union Addresses alphabetized and shown in consecutive order. The project is unfinished because I have only printed one of the speeches and have not found a venue interested. In ...
"Wall" is a text-based installation of each of George Bush's State of the Union Addresses alphabetized and shown in consecutive order. The project is unfinished because I have only printed one of the speeches and have not found a venue interested. In ...
W4084
23.05.2011
"After the Council"  - Hunter/Lassal
WWW
"After the Council" (2006) is a playful reflection upon power and adornment on one level, as well as resources and recycling on another. ...
"After the Council" (2006) is a playful reflection upon power and adornment on one level, as well as resources and recycling on another. ...
W4556
25.05.2011
23 Kilograms - Corina Ilea
WWW
23 Kilograms My project starts from the idea of remembering through photography within the immigrant community. Its objective is to bring to light the intimate relationship that the immigrants preserve with their native land through the photographs the ...
23 Kilograms My project starts from the idea of remembering through photography within the immigrant community. Its objective is to bring to light the intimate relationship that the immigrants preserve with their native land through the photographs the ...
W5206
03.10.2012
12 x 12 - Georgia Kotretsos
WWW
Originally submitted to the 12 x 12 Project Space at the MCA in Chicago in 2003/04. The submitted images are showing the model book made for the demonstrative needs of the project. The size of the model book is H 6 x W 4,5 x 1, 5 cm and it pops-up /unfol ...
Originally submitted to the 12 x 12 Project Space at the MCA in Chicago in 2003/04. The submitted images are showing the model book made for the demonstrative needs of the project. The size of the model book is H 6 x W 4,5 x 1, 5 cm and it pops-up /unfol ...
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 ...
W4043
22.05.2011
THE LIVING WATER - Rodica A Miller
WWW
There have always been vanguardists, people with innovative ideas who opened new horizons and trends. For me, this is one of my unrealized projects for Art & Technology. As a subjective experience, my painting is an illusory world of colors, metaphors ...
There have always been vanguardists, people with innovative ideas who opened new horizons and trends. For me, this is one of my unrealized projects for Art & Technology. As a subjective experience, my painting is an illusory world of colors, metaphors ...
W4177
24.05.2011
"Let the Seasons Begin" - Steven Beckly
WWW
"Let the Seasons Begin" is a series of performance-based images inspired by a recurring dream character with anthropomorphic elephant features. In my dreams, this character existed in isolation from tangible surroundings and environments. ...
"Let the Seasons Begin" is a series of performance-based images inspired by a recurring dream character with anthropomorphic elephant features. In my dreams, this character existed in isolation from tangible surroundings and environments. ...
W4964
21.08.2012
Art Van Triest
WWW
no pics jet no youtube jet what I want to do is basically mechanically (physically) recreate a known (digitally modelled) scene from a actionfilm. the scene has a bullet that slowly splashes through a wall or glass or something like that.... ...
no pics jet no youtube jet what I want to do is basically mechanically (physically) recreate a known (digitally modelled) scene from a actionfilm. the scene has a bullet that slowly splashes through a wall or glass or something like that.... ...
W4065
23.05.2011
THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG - Rick Doble
WWW
A PROPOSAL BY RICK DOBLE FOR AN UNREALIZED ART PROJECT BASED ON PROCESSING THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG In 2003 I proposed an art project (see my submitted copy of my proposal to the Exploratorium in San Francisco ...
A PROPOSAL BY RICK DOBLE FOR AN UNREALIZED ART PROJECT BASED ON PROCESSING THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION (CMB) FROM THE BIG BANG In 2003 I proposed an art project (see my submitted copy of my proposal to the Exploratorium in San Francisco ...
W5245
10.10.2012
No.2 - Jim Bay
WWW
No.2 Come on Jim, make it happen. Do it. Focus. You can do it. I know that what you do isn't easy, but you chose this path Jim and have been treading it a good many years now. This fear, is amateurish. Come on Jim, you have lived, loved and lost. You h ...
No.2 Come on Jim, make it happen. Do it. Focus. You can do it. I know that what you do isn't easy, but you chose this path Jim and have been treading it a good many years now. This fear, is amateurish. Come on Jim, you have lived, loved and lost. You h ...
W5159
24.09.2012
The DECISION is yours - Taša Turk
WWW
»The DECISION is yours« »The DECISION is yours« is an unrealized project. The idea was created in 2009 as a response to what was happening in society and on the planet. The main thought of the project was to remind the observer of how important a ...
»The DECISION is yours« »The DECISION is yours« is an unrealized project. The idea was created in 2009 as a response to what was happening in society and on the planet. The main thought of the project was to remind the observer of how important a ...
W3987
21.05.2011
MEMORY CONFETTI  - STEPHEN j SHANABROOK / VERONIKA GEORGIEVA
WWW
The project MEMORY CONFETTI consists of two parts: through various social network sites we will introduce the project and request the public’s time based participation in sending us images that will be turned into 35 mm slides. These slides mixed with n ...
The project MEMORY CONFETTI consists of two parts: through various social network sites we will introduce the project and request the public’s time based participation in sending us images that will be turned into 35 mm slides. These slides mixed with n ...
W3501
11.05.2011
The Replacement Weather - Rebecca Hackemann
WWW
The Replacement Weather consists of replacement clouds for replacement weather, consisting of sculptural light installation. In case the real clouds become defunct, obsolete or unusable, I am proposing a quasi spoof proposal format of a light and sculptur ...
The Replacement Weather consists of replacement clouds for replacement weather, consisting of sculptural light installation. In case the real clouds become defunct, obsolete or unusable, I am proposing a quasi spoof proposal format of a light and sculptur ...
W4373
25.05.2011
Thomas Friel
WWW
"Potential Artworks to be Completed by You, the Viewer." A list of potential artworks that can be performed by anyone, one or many times, for an indefinite number of times. They are intended to offer an individual aesthetic experience to the performer. ...
"Potential Artworks to be Completed by You, the Viewer." A list of potential artworks that can be performed by anyone, one or many times, for an indefinite number of times. They are intended to offer an individual aesthetic experience to the performer. ...
W5419
20.10.2012
UTOPIAS ARE FOR BIRDS - Alvaro Urbano
WWW
UTOPIAS ARE FOR BIRDS 2012 - Ongoing Utopia is a non-place, a good-place. Utopia is defined as an idyllic society with a legal system and socio-political ideals, a society living in harmony, between geographical dislocation and intellectual positivi ...
UTOPIAS ARE FOR BIRDS 2012 - Ongoing Utopia is a non-place, a good-place. Utopia is defined as an idyllic society with a legal system and socio-political ideals, a society living in harmony, between geographical dislocation and intellectual positivi ...