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.

Milan House (AC/DC & Joy Division) - Liam Gillick

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

The World is a Theater and we each have a role - Louise Bourgeois

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa

Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt

To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4000
21.05.2011
Freedom Hill (2010) - Edward Salem
WWW
Freedom Hill (2010) At Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a decommissioned tank, helicopter, cannon, and fighter jet have been permanently installed as monuments to U.S. military strength.  Taking a cue from Meret Oppenheim’s Object - Le D ...
Freedom Hill (2010) At Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a decommissioned tank, helicopter, cannon, and fighter jet have been permanently installed as monuments to U.S. military strength.  Taking a cue from Meret Oppenheim’s Object - Le D ...
W4768
29.05.2011
A Skin of Shadows - Daisuke Hiraiwa
WWW
On a sunny day, we can see the shadows of everything naturally. We know that real objects are positive things and the shadows of them are negative things. I want to consider the relationship between negative and positive. Shadows represent the existence ...
On a sunny day, we can see the shadows of everything naturally. We know that real objects are positive things and the shadows of them are negative things. I want to consider the relationship between negative and positive. Shadows represent the existence ...
W3568
12.05.2011
The Pantheon 2001 - Julianna Balogh
WWW
Concept: to create a Pantheon for women of the 21st century and dedicate the building to Hillary Clinton because I see it as an artist that in this moment of history the world needs women, the caretakers, as leaders who can "connect the dots". The buil ...
Concept: to create a Pantheon for women of the 21st century and dedicate the building to Hillary Clinton because I see it as an artist that in this moment of history the world needs women, the caretakers, as leaders who can "connect the dots". The buil ...
U9838
01.01.1985
Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg
Unbuilt Roads
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 5 3/4 x 4 in. (14.6 x 10.2 cm) ...
Pencil and watercolor on paper, 5 3/4 x 4 in. (14.6 x 10.2 cm) ...
W3766
18.05.2011
francine LeClercq
WWW
image 1: Exit, local law 26, study for an un-threaded stair. image 2: study for spatial composition of laser levels in exhibition space ...
image 1: Exit, local law 26, study for an un-threaded stair. image 2: study for spatial composition of laser levels in exhibition space ...
W3673
15.05.2011
SOUNDFAIR  - Clara Meister
WWW
THE UTOPIA OF A SOUNDSHOW ʻTELL ME ALL, SHOW ME NOTHINGʼ INTRODUCTION UNREALIZED PROJECT INTRODUCTION OF THE FOUNDERS 4. REALIZED PORJECTS CONTACT: Clara Meister clara@soundfair.net www.soundfair.net INTRODUCTION SOUNDFAIR - EXHI ...
THE UTOPIA OF A SOUNDSHOW ʻTELL ME ALL, SHOW ME NOTHINGʼ INTRODUCTION UNREALIZED PROJECT INTRODUCTION OF THE FOUNDERS 4. REALIZED PORJECTS CONTACT: Clara Meister clara@soundfair.net www.soundfair.net INTRODUCTION SOUNDFAIR - EXHI ...
U9248
14.02.1997
Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson
Unbuilt Roads
Dear Hans-Ulrich Obrist, I'm sending some images to you on disk. There are four stills of a theater set. (et 1 and et 2 on the first disk and et 3 and et5 on the second disk.) These are printable using Photoshop 3.0. Here is the text you asked for ...
Dear Hans-Ulrich Obrist, I'm sending some images to you on disk. There are four stills of a theater set. (et 1 and et 2 on the first disk and et 3 and et5 on the second disk.) These are printable using Photoshop 3.0. Here is the text you asked for ...
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 ...
W3589
13.05.2011
Failed Music Store - Luke Munn
WWW
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...
W4663
25.05.2011
Arbeit Macht Nicht Frei (Work doens’t bring freedom)  - DARR TAH LEI
WWW
Arbeit Macht Nicht Frei (Work doens’t bring freedom) Project for an installation 4 drawings hanged on 4 walls, masses of heavy chains hanging from the ceiling. Area of room needed - minimum 40 mt2 This artwork happens with the intention to emphasize t ...
Arbeit Macht Nicht Frei (Work doens’t bring freedom) Project for an installation 4 drawings hanged on 4 walls, masses of heavy chains hanging from the ceiling. Area of room needed - minimum 40 mt2 This artwork happens with the intention to emphasize t ...
W5390
20.10.2012
Jesvin Yeo
WWW
Unrealized Project by Jesvin Yeo The initial intention of this project was to design and create a series of dolls to illustrate the dark period of Singapore in 1950s. When there had been more than 30 secret societies and almost everyday, there were gan ...
Unrealized Project by Jesvin Yeo The initial intention of this project was to design and create a series of dolls to illustrate the dark period of Singapore in 1950s. When there had been more than 30 secret societies and almost everyday, there were gan ...
W3580
13.05.2011
Diary - Brocken Column, 1989 - Dan Mihaltianu
WWW
Brocken Column belongs to a series of works produced in the late 80s with the generic title "Diary", drawings, lithographs, artist books and installations, using as symbols the initials of the week days ...
Brocken Column belongs to a series of works produced in the late 80s with the generic title "Diary", drawings, lithographs, artist books and installations, using as symbols the initials of the week days ...
W4460
25.05.2011
Wish Tree - Soyoung Park
WWW
Wish Tree I am drawn to the naivety of the words “wish” and “tree”. In the current cultural atmosphere of criticality, the naive cliche of growing wishes on a tree feels almost refreshing. But then I question what kinds of wishes we can grow on ...
Wish Tree I am drawn to the naivety of the words “wish” and “tree”. In the current cultural atmosphere of criticality, the naive cliche of growing wishes on a tree feels almost refreshing. But then I question what kinds of wishes we can grow on ...
U9673
01.05.1981
WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum
Unbuilt Roads
Extracts from an unpublished interview with Michael Archer for Phaidon press: ...Around the same period I made a proposal for the New Contemporaries exhibition which was going to be held at the ICA. In those days the toilets were on either side of the ...
Extracts from an unpublished interview with Michael Archer for Phaidon press: ...Around the same period I made a proposal for the New Contemporaries exhibition which was going to be held at the ICA. In those days the toilets were on either side of the ...
W4022
22.05.2011
Holly Crawford
WWW
Performance/Installation, proposed 1997, identity and feminism using popular cultural image of Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Cancelled last minute due to funds). Minnie Mouse and Why is she depressed? Proposal for performance/installation Disney ...
Performance/Installation, proposed 1997, identity and feminism using popular cultural image of Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Cancelled last minute due to funds). Minnie Mouse and Why is she depressed? Proposal for performance/installation Disney ...
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 ...
W3634
14.05.2011
Centre Pompidou Mobile - Berger&Berger
WWW
Centre Pompidou Mobile

 Berger&Berger (Laurent P. Berger & Cyrille Berger) with T. Raynaud

 2009 Restricted competition

 1800 m²

Mobile art museum 

CNAC GEORGES-POMPIDOU, France

 Structural Engineer : Bollinger + Gro ...
Centre Pompidou Mobile

 Berger&Berger (Laurent P. Berger & Cyrille Berger) with T. Raynaud

 2009 Restricted competition

 1800 m²

Mobile art museum 

CNAC GEORGES-POMPIDOU, France

 Structural Engineer : Bollinger + Gro ...
W3612
13.05.2011
Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) - Divya Mehra
WWW
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
W4718
26.05.2011
Blue Cries - Eduardo Villanueva
WWW
Blue cries Film scenario Study of the materie- antimaterie, by Eduardo Villanueva. The basic Idea here is to retake the vision of the Air Architecture project made by Yves Klein, who investigated the possibilities of immaterial architecture, makin ...
Blue cries Film scenario Study of the materie- antimaterie, by Eduardo Villanueva. The basic Idea here is to retake the vision of the Air Architecture project made by Yves Klein, who investigated the possibilities of immaterial architecture, makin ...
W3703
17.05.2011
Izabela Ołdak
WWW
Artist Statement Artists don't make objects. Artists make mythologies. 
Anish Kapoor Art has the power to cause a revolution, to change minds. It is for me a communication aimed at the search for truth, in life and in reality. Art has an immense p ...
Artist Statement Artists don't make objects. Artists make mythologies. 
Anish Kapoor Art has the power to cause a revolution, to change minds. It is for me a communication aimed at the search for truth, in life and in reality. Art has an immense p ...
W4495
25.05.2011
The Crystal Pavilion - Walker and Walker
WWW
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
The project The Crystal Pavilion is to construct Wassili Luckhardt’s Cult Building from1920. This unrealized project exists only as a drawing and was made by Luckhardt when he was a member of the Crystal Chain group. The Glass Chain or Crystal Chain s ...
W5350
18.10.2012
Mariano Del Rosario
WWW
An art installation with mirrored tunnels connecting three derelict industrial buildings as transitory laboratory space for art experimentation. A permit to contain, wrap, and occupy three toxic and derelict industrial buildings in Brooklyn, New York, ...
An art installation with mirrored tunnels connecting three derelict industrial buildings as transitory laboratory space for art experimentation. A permit to contain, wrap, and occupy three toxic and derelict industrial buildings in Brooklyn, New York, ...
W5306
17.10.2012
cat.rais - Jake Morton
WWW
AUP : Agency for un-realised projects : submission : 1.0 The A.U.P. - Agency for un-realised projects - open call invitation states: 1.1 “Though the state of being unrealized implies the potential for realization, not all projects are intended to ...
AUP : Agency for un-realised projects : submission : 1.0 The A.U.P. - Agency for un-realised projects - open call invitation states: 1.1 “Though the state of being unrealized implies the potential for realization, not all projects are intended to ...
W4955
20.08.2012
Museum of Rene's Contemptorary Art - Rene Price
WWW
MORCA Museum of Rene’s Contemporary Art Rene has produced too much Artstuff. He likes all of it and he has been able to afford to keep it all in storage. His website (www.reneprice.ca) presents 1000 of his more than 2000 3 ...
MORCA Museum of Rene’s Contemporary Art Rene has produced too much Artstuff. He likes all of it and he has been able to afford to keep it all in storage. His website (www.reneprice.ca) presents 1000 of his more than 2000 3 ...
U9610
01.01.1988
Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken
Unbuilt Roads
Auf dem Wege nach Amsterdam sollten wir 30 meter hohe stahltulpen im würde leicht Schwingend die Autofahrer. Links und rechts oder Autobahn begrußen. (Jede Blüte in ihre eigenen farbe) (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Die A ...
Auf dem Wege nach Amsterdam sollten wir 30 meter hohe stahltulpen im würde leicht Schwingend die Autofahrer. Links und rechts oder Autobahn begrußen. (Jede Blüte in ihre eigenen farbe) (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Die A ...
W4053
22.05.2011
Project: (where nothing ever happens) - leo Morrissey
WWW
A mobile fundamentalist billboards advertises the “judgment day” May 21, 2011…when the chosen will be taken up to “heaven”…sinners not going to heaven will be left behind on earth. As a none believer I have always professed that no “god” ...
A mobile fundamentalist billboards advertises the “judgment day” May 21, 2011…when the chosen will be taken up to “heaven”…sinners not going to heaven will be left behind on earth. As a none believer I have always professed that no “god” ...