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.

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Sol Lewitt

PROPOSALl + VOORSTEL - Guillame Bijl

Entwurf für einen erneuerten Malkasten 1992 - 1994 - Ulrike Holthöfer

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

Fax Transmission - Raymond Pettibone and Jason Rhoades

Proposal for a permanent video installation for the NYC headquarters of Sony Corporation - Dara Birnbaum

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

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

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4055
23.05.2011
“Illum” Proposal - Kat Kohl
WWW
Through my work, I explore the concept of how external surroundings impact the “internal” experience of the individual and how dimensional transformation alters the function of a form. I utilize the duality of material surfaces to create undulating pl ...
Through my work, I explore the concept of how external surroundings impact the “internal” experience of the individual and how dimensional transformation alters the function of a form. I utilize the duality of material surfaces to create undulating pl ...
U9591
01.01.1987
The World Record - General Idea
Unbuilt Roads
A commission for the SkyDome sports stadium in Toronto, Canada. "General Idea's World Record takes the form of an Illuminated sign suspended overhead and running for the complete circumference of the SkyDome's circular interior street. It will display ...
A commission for the SkyDome sports stadium in Toronto, Canada. "General Idea's World Record takes the form of an Illuminated sign suspended overhead and running for the complete circumference of the SkyDome's circular interior street. It will display ...
W5476
21.10.2012
Roberto Delgado
WWW
Berliner Künstlerprogramm/DAAD 19 Oct 2012 This is a Project Description for the unrealized Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Station Public Art Project RFP. My proposal was for a number of 3’ x 7’ ceramic tile panels mounted on the CMU ...
Berliner Künstlerprogramm/DAAD 19 Oct 2012 This is a Project Description for the unrealized Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Station Public Art Project RFP. My proposal was for a number of 3’ x 7’ ceramic tile panels mounted on the CMU ...
W5170
26.09.2012
Jessica Li
WWW
An online database of all the words I know and all the words I think I know along with their respective pronunciations, definitions, and usages. This collection would house all words in all the languages I think I know and be organized by the chronologica ...
An online database of all the words I know and all the words I think I know along with their respective pronunciations, definitions, and usages. This collection would house all words in all the languages I think I know and be organized by the chronologica ...
W7067
24.11.2013
Ardfert “Miracle Hill”  - Julie Forrester
WWW
THEMES The theme will be Ardfert “Miracle Hill”. Ideas about miracles will be explored playfully by posing questions: What exactly is a miracle? Do you know any miracles? Are miracles real? Do we need them? Who are the people who inhabit miracles? ...
THEMES The theme will be Ardfert “Miracle Hill”. Ideas about miracles will be explored playfully by posing questions: What exactly is a miracle? Do you know any miracles? Are miracles real? Do we need them? Who are the people who inhabit miracles? ...
W4475
25.05.2011
Veronica Wilton
WWW
W3772
18.05.2011
Mirek Lumens Proposal 2007, Mirek Chicago Proposal 2006 - Robert Mirek
WWW
Mirek Lumens Proposal 2007 Mirek Chicago Proposal 2006 ...
Mirek Lumens Proposal 2007 Mirek Chicago Proposal 2006 ...
W4758
27.05.2011
A Witch Diary - Megumi Shimizu
WWW
“A witch diary _ great grandmother _” When I was a child, I lived in the grandmother house for about 6 month. Her house is very old wooden Japanese style home. And the main gate is opened only for guests coming; usually ...
“A witch diary _ great grandmother _” When I was a child, I lived in the grandmother house for about 6 month. Her house is very old wooden Japanese style home. And the main gate is opened only for guests coming; usually ...
W3695
16.05.2011
Vladimar and Rosa (2011) - Anne Colvin
WWW
Vladimar and Rosa (2011) is a fictional dance company created and produced by artist Anne Colvin. Their first production "The Kids Play Russian" will never be realized. A hybrid dance installation influenced by experimental film strategies plays out as f ...
Vladimar and Rosa (2011) is a fictional dance company created and produced by artist Anne Colvin. Their first production "The Kids Play Russian" will never be realized. A hybrid dance installation influenced by experimental film strategies plays out as f ...
W5032
31.08.2012
Peter Friedl
WWW
When Roger M. Buergel was appointed artistic director of documenta 12, I was asked to develop some ideas for the visual design of d12. I quickly started with research work at the documenta archives in Kassel. Due to ill communication it didn't make much s ...
When Roger M. Buergel was appointed artistic director of documenta 12, I was asked to develop some ideas for the visual design of d12. I quickly started with research work at the documenta archives in Kassel. Due to ill communication it didn't make much s ...
W3800
18.05.2011
Sinead McDonald
WWW
Part of a series of experimental explorations on the impact of medium and process on the reading of the photographic image, exploring the use of alternative print processes in altering viewers' responses. In using the historical processes of the cyanotyp ...
Part of a series of experimental explorations on the impact of medium and process on the reading of the photographic image, exploring the use of alternative print processes in altering viewers' responses. In using the historical processes of the cyanotyp ...
W5069
05.09.2012
National Bank - Assaf Gruber
WWW
National Bank: In April 2009, I contacted the Sport Center of the National Bank of Belgium to submit to them a proposition for an exhibition: We planned to exhibit Getting Even, a piece made with slices of bowling balls that are scattered around and be ...
National Bank: In April 2009, I contacted the Sport Center of the National Bank of Belgium to submit to them a proposition for an exhibition: We planned to exhibit Getting Even, a piece made with slices of bowling balls that are scattered around and be ...
W4314
24.05.2011
Unfinished Projects - Catarina Alexandra Costa Cubelo Morais
WWW
Unfinished Projects This project is about sound and comunication It is also about the nervous consequences that came with the repetition of the same type of sound, which at first cause a strangeness and annoyance, and then the questioning of the phen ...
Unfinished Projects This project is about sound and comunication It is also about the nervous consequences that came with the repetition of the same type of sound, which at first cause a strangeness and annoyance, and then the questioning of the phen ...
W5132
19.09.2012
Leo Morrissey
WWW
Leo Morrissey 310 West 4th Street 1107 Winston Salem NC, 27101 USA 336-473 –3888 Leomorrissey58@hotmail.com Lmorrissey22@hotmail.com Project Concept – (Summary/Description ) Create a postcard in an edition of 8875 (representing the popula ...
Leo Morrissey 310 West 4th Street 1107 Winston Salem NC, 27101 USA 336-473 –3888 Leomorrissey58@hotmail.com Lmorrissey22@hotmail.com Project Concept – (Summary/Description ) Create a postcard in an edition of 8875 (representing the popula ...
W10936
22.06.2015
THORAX - Marion Inglessi
WWW
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
W3536
11.05.2011
Present through the Rearview Mirror - Ali Miharbi
WWW
Present through the Rearview Mirror Ali Miharbi (Nov. 2, 2010) Summary: “Present through the Rearview Mirror” will be a live animation depicting a crowd flowing through a specific public space, based on previously gathered data such as crowd move ...
Present through the Rearview Mirror Ali Miharbi (Nov. 2, 2010) Summary: “Present through the Rearview Mirror” will be a live animation depicting a crowd flowing through a specific public space, based on previously gathered data such as crowd move ...
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 ...
W10234
05.04.2014
Impending Monument: Boston Baby Head - Carolyn Wirth
WWW
A large public auditorium and concert hall in the form of a giant baby head will be installed at the Castle Island monument overlooking Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts. Visitors will climb inside the head using a spiral ramp way in an open rotunda si ...
A large public auditorium and concert hall in the form of a giant baby head will be installed at the Castle Island monument overlooking Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts. Visitors will climb inside the head using a spiral ramp way in an open rotunda si ...
W5060
03.09.2012
Indoor swiming pool competition - Rodrigo Lima Arquitecto
WWW
Indoor swiming pool competition. A water surface, running along a curve shaped hangar, ends in a water fall. The water surface contains 4 swimming pools, each one dedicated to a different type of water activity. (Sports or Play) ...
Indoor swiming pool competition. A water surface, running along a curve shaped hangar, ends in a water fall. The water surface contains 4 swimming pools, each one dedicated to a different type of water activity. (Sports or Play) ...
W3606
13.05.2011
Recent Work Not Done - Buzz Spector
WWW
Date: 13 May 2011 To: The Agency of Unrealized Projects From: Buzz Spector RE: Recent Work Not Done My unrealized project is an artists’ book compilation of every artmaking idea or curatorial proposition I have had since 1972, but which ...
Date: 13 May 2011 To: The Agency of Unrealized Projects From: Buzz Spector RE: Recent Work Not Done My unrealized project is an artists’ book compilation of every artmaking idea or curatorial proposition I have had since 1972, but which ...
W5160
24.09.2012
See-Throughs - Anton Savov and Barak Reiser
WWW
SEE-THROUGHS A project proposal by Anton Savov and Barak Reiser Frankfurt, 2011 See-Throughs is a proposal for a pavilion to be situated on a square in a metropolitan location during the winter months - a time when the city’s open-air spaces are ...
SEE-THROUGHS A project proposal by Anton Savov and Barak Reiser Frankfurt, 2011 See-Throughs is a proposal for a pavilion to be situated on a square in a metropolitan location during the winter months - a time when the city’s open-air spaces are ...
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 ...
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 ...
W4342
24.05.2011
The First Piece of Art for/from the Moon, 1970 - 1972 - Kocot and Hatton
WWW
project one - The First Piece of Art for/from the Moon, 1970 - 1972 Our project, The First Piece of Art for/from the Moon, a three-venue exhibition, required cooperation between three major US museums. Each museum would display simultaneously an eight ...
project one - The First Piece of Art for/from the Moon, 1970 - 1972 Our project, The First Piece of Art for/from the Moon, a three-venue exhibition, required cooperation between three major US museums. Each museum would display simultaneously an eight ...
W4659
25.05.2011
Correspondence. - Mark Rowan-Hull
WWW
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
W3622
14.05.2011
SIGHT UNSEEN - Marcy B. Freedman
WWW
“Message to curators: Whatever you’re doing right now, do something else next.” Roberta Smith (New York Times, February 14, 2010) THE CONCEPT: SIGHT UNSEEN is intended to challenge traditional notions of curatorial practice. The project establis ...
“Message to curators: Whatever you’re doing right now, do something else next.” Roberta Smith (New York Times, February 14, 2010) THE CONCEPT: SIGHT UNSEEN is intended to challenge traditional notions of curatorial practice. The project establis ...