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.

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

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

Why New Worlds Conceived by Artists Do Not Get Built - Peter Fend

Invitation Space No.1 - Tania Mouraud

Billboard - Jimmie Durham

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

Theater der Leere - Werner Ruhnau and Yves Klein

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

Aus: Katalog 'Kunst bleibt Kunst' - Hans Peter Feldman

Square Depression - Bruce Nauman

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5199
03.10.2012
Social Walls - David Averbuch
WWW
Social Walls™ A Proposal for an Environmental Sculpture 25 November 2013 David Averbuch This proposed artwork has just four walls in a square shape, yet it represents a new idea. Each wall will be divided into small equal areas, henceforth calle ...
Social Walls™ A Proposal for an Environmental Sculpture 25 November 2013 David Averbuch This proposed artwork has just four walls in a square shape, yet it represents a new idea. Each wall will be divided into small equal areas, henceforth calle ...
W5012
30.08.2012
Stalactite Machine - Karen Lofgren
WWW
Stalactite Machine is an unrealized mechanical sculpture that was prototyped 3 times in metal and in wood over two years before being laid to rest. Karen Lofgren: Unrealized Art Project: Stalactite Machine Stalactite Machine is a sculpture that bui ...
Stalactite Machine is an unrealized mechanical sculpture that was prototyped 3 times in metal and in wood over two years before being laid to rest. Karen Lofgren: Unrealized Art Project: Stalactite Machine Stalactite Machine is a sculpture that bui ...
W5004
30.08.2012
Gerd/Gerda - Peter Friedl
WWW
Peter Friedl Gerd/Gerda, 2002 Proposal “Art Competition Federal Chancellery”, Berlin, 2002 The project proposal (working title) attempts to quite consciously grasp the announced requirements, expectations, limitations, and goals as the materia ...
Peter Friedl Gerd/Gerda, 2002 Proposal “Art Competition Federal Chancellery”, Berlin, 2002 The project proposal (working title) attempts to quite consciously grasp the announced requirements, expectations, limitations, and goals as the materia ...
W4228
24.05.2011
Sacred Sister - Bettina WitteVeen
WWW
Sacred Sister by Bettina WitteVeen GLOSSARY AMAZONS: Society of women warriors whose kingdom was believed to be to the north of the civilized world and who tolerated men only as servants or as father of female children. They cut off one breast i ...
Sacred Sister by Bettina WitteVeen GLOSSARY AMAZONS: Society of women warriors whose kingdom was believed to be to the north of the civilized world and who tolerated men only as servants or as father of female children. They cut off one breast i ...
W5260
12.10.2012
snowball - Cristina d'eça Leal
WWW
Synopsis When a snowball slides down a hill, it gathers more snow, becoming bigger and bigger until it can, ultimately, start an avalanche. This analogy is used to explain the success of a certain action. In order to achieve the best result it is fundam ...
Synopsis When a snowball slides down a hill, it gathers more snow, becoming bigger and bigger until it can, ultimately, start an avalanche. This analogy is used to explain the success of a certain action. In order to achieve the best result it is fundam ...
W4156
23.05.2011
Craig Havens
WWW
From August 2009 to January 2010, I employed the spirit of Elvis Presely as the PR Director of a Limited Liability Company which I created to represent my groin to those people who were no longer welcome in my life. ...
From August 2009 to January 2010, I employed the spirit of Elvis Presely as the PR Director of a Limited Liability Company which I created to represent my groin to those people who were no longer welcome in my life. ...
W4318
24.05.2011
Taking the Call Center - Yumi Janairo Roth and Nadine Wasserman
WWW
Outsourcing is common in a global economy. It is often maligned for taking jobs away from American workers and is also a source of pop culture humor. For the people working in these jobs, however, it can mean the difference between staying home or leavin ...
Outsourcing is common in a global economy. It is often maligned for taking jobs away from American workers and is also a source of pop culture humor. For the people working in these jobs, however, it can mean the difference between staying home or leavin ...
W3554
12.05.2011
Filipa Ramos & António Contador
WWW
Lisbon, May 12, 2011 Dear Agency of Unrealized Projects, We have been planning to write you for so long. In fact, it has been more than two years now, since we first felt the urge to share our thoughts with you. But we ended up never doing it until ...
Lisbon, May 12, 2011 Dear Agency of Unrealized Projects, We have been planning to write you for so long. In fact, it has been more than two years now, since we first felt the urge to share our thoughts with you. But we ended up never doing it until ...
W4664
25.05.2011
Field Experiment Osnabrück - MomenTech
WWW
Field Experiment Osnabrück an unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com Field Experiment Osnabrück is a proposed large-scale work in the public sphere based on MomenTech’s Field Experiment installation, an interactive, site-spec ...
Field Experiment Osnabrück an unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com Field Experiment Osnabrück is a proposed large-scale work in the public sphere based on MomenTech’s Field Experiment installation, an interactive, site-spec ...
W5262
13.10.2012
Seeing the Unseen - Maria Paschalidou
WWW
maria Paschalidou artist, art professor www.mariapaschalidou.com paschalmari@yahoo.com Athens, October 13, 2012 Seeing the Unseen Seeing the Unseen is an ongoing project of tracing the ‘unseen’, the most invisible and/or unobserved sites of an ...
maria Paschalidou artist, art professor www.mariapaschalidou.com paschalmari@yahoo.com Athens, October 13, 2012 Seeing the Unseen Seeing the Unseen is an ongoing project of tracing the ‘unseen’, the most invisible and/or unobserved sites of an ...
W10444
23.04.2014
Glass Tower 50 - Sean Scully
WWW
Glass Tower 50, 2014 is constructed of fifty glass panels. The slabs of glass are roughly cut on their edges allowing spaces between the layers enabling light and air to enter the work. This design gives it a sense of weightlessness, as a counter point ...
Glass Tower 50, 2014 is constructed of fifty glass panels. The slabs of glass are roughly cut on their edges allowing spaces between the layers enabling light and air to enter the work. This design gives it a sense of weightlessness, as a counter point ...
W3804
18.05.2011
Joanne Tatham & Tom O'Sullivan
WWW
"An experience being an experience like an experience you just had" was an unsuccessful proposal for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. ...
"An experience being an experience like an experience you just had" was an unsuccessful proposal for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. ...
W4903
13.08.2012
Round Table - Raoul Marek
WWW
The “freedom and democracy monument” is designed in the shape of an oversized transparent round table: People make use of the elements of that round table by their presence and help bring life into it.The round table is the symbol of the democratic id ...
The “freedom and democracy monument” is designed in the shape of an oversized transparent round table: People make use of the elements of that round table by their presence and help bring life into it.The round table is the symbol of the democratic id ...
W4685
26.05.2011
Artist Statement  - barbara greene mann
WWW
Artist Statement These drawings are a new series about the ladies who shopped and shopped and lost their heads. Their necks were used as a periscope.and finally someone said, Put your money where your mouth is. Voila they became known as the Purse Heads. ...
Artist Statement These drawings are a new series about the ladies who shopped and shopped and lost their heads. Their necks were used as a periscope.and finally someone said, Put your money where your mouth is. Voila they became known as the Purse Heads. ...
W4138
23.05.2011
No manʼs land - Constanza Alarcón Tennen
WWW
No manʼs land This installation was projected for Sala SAM, a gallery in Santiago de Chile, to be exhibited in August 2010. Because of the abrupt closure of the gallery, the Project was stoped a month before opening. No manʼs land was based in the obs ...
No manʼs land This installation was projected for Sala SAM, a gallery in Santiago de Chile, to be exhibited in August 2010. Because of the abrupt closure of the gallery, the Project was stoped a month before opening. No manʼs land was based in the obs ...
W3859
19.05.2011
Waiting room: A History of Doing Nothing and a Long Tale of Useful Action - Guillermo E. Rodriguez Rivera
WWW
G A L E R I A M A N G O S T A 23 June – 31 July 2011 402 Muñoz Rivera Ave FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Galeria Mangosta is pleased to present Waiting room: a history of doing nothing and a long tale of useful action. Looking at the pivotal role of ...
G A L E R I A M A N G O S T A 23 June – 31 July 2011 402 Muñoz Rivera Ave FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Galeria Mangosta is pleased to present Waiting room: a history of doing nothing and a long tale of useful action. Looking at the pivotal role of ...
W5438
20.10.2012
Smuggling Pomegranate Pavilion (SPP) - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
It is a multifaceted programme working with and around cultural practice in the Middle East and North Africa. SPP consists of exhibitions, projects, performances, lectures, discussions, and new techniques for mediating the public’s reactions to art and ...
W10332
17.04.2014
FOR ALL MANKIND - Lisa Rovner
WWW
"For all mankind" is a series of large scale poems that can be seen from above, anywhere, anytime, through programs such as Google Earth. The first in the series screams: BECAUSE I AM HUMAN AND I NEED TO BE LOVED. The poem answers an unknown question. ...
"For all mankind" is a series of large scale poems that can be seen from above, anywhere, anytime, through programs such as Google Earth. The first in the series screams: BECAUSE I AM HUMAN AND I NEED TO BE LOVED. The poem answers an unknown question. ...
W3733
18.05.2011
“Veil” - Felippe Moraes
WWW
“Veil” The intervention, in the simulations proposed for “Teatro Colón” in Peru and “Paço das Artes” in São Paulo - Brazil, works by placing 3 fog machines in the top of the specific building. These machines produce smoke that are than c ...
“Veil” The intervention, in the simulations proposed for “Teatro Colón” in Peru and “Paço das Artes” in São Paulo - Brazil, works by placing 3 fog machines in the top of the specific building. These machines produce smoke that are than c ...
W4005
22.05.2011
Chris Johnson
WWW
I propose to cut involute spur gears into the ice of a central park lake. Imposing a simple machine will add something to the natural world. A prototype of the proposal can be seen at: http://vimeo.com/23778323 ...
I propose to cut involute spur gears into the ice of a central park lake. Imposing a simple machine will add something to the natural world. A prototype of the proposal can be seen at: http://vimeo.com/23778323 ...
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 ...
W4575
25.05.2011
Unrealized Project #9: - Shiva Lynn Burgos and Javier Barrera (Ned and Shiva Productions)
WWW
Unrealized Project #9: “Illegal Crossings: An attempt to secretly enter the United States via the Mexico/Texas Border” January, 2008 -A performance documented with photography, film and soundscape Project Aims To make arrangements with Coy ...
Unrealized Project #9: “Illegal Crossings: An attempt to secretly enter the United States via the Mexico/Texas Border” January, 2008 -A performance documented with photography, film and soundscape Project Aims To make arrangements with Coy ...
W4321
24.05.2011
This Never Happened - Vladimir Mitrev & Martina Baleva
WWW
This Never Happened Vladimir Mitrev & Martina Baleva Background of the project In 2007 an exhibition about the creation process of the painting “The Massacre of Batak” from 1892 by the Polish painter Antoni Piotrowski should have been shown ...
This Never Happened Vladimir Mitrev & Martina Baleva Background of the project In 2007 an exhibition about the creation process of the painting “The Massacre of Batak” from 1892 by the Polish painter Antoni Piotrowski should have been shown ...
W10612
03.07.2014
On cherche à la lumière ce que l'on a perdu dans le noir - Nadine Lère
WWW
Mon projet est de construire et d’installer un dispositif éclairant, une source de lumière propre à voir. Le dispositif, un espace pénétrable, prend la fonction de point d’attraction, comme un phare. Il se veut être un point de repère, de rasse ...
Mon projet est de construire et d’installer un dispositif éclairant, une source de lumière propre à voir. Le dispositif, un espace pénétrable, prend la fonction de point d’attraction, comme un phare. Il se veut être un point de repère, de rasse ...
W4352
25.05.2011
Palitos/Sticks  - Yanina Moroni
WWW
Palitos/Sticks Descripción / Description La obra es una instalación, disposición de diversos objetos en el espacio y el tiempo. Es una Estructura modular reubicable y/o adaptable, conformada por Módulos, pequeñas obras, partes de la obra genera ...
Palitos/Sticks Descripción / Description La obra es una instalación, disposición de diversos objetos en el espacio y el tiempo. Es una Estructura modular reubicable y/o adaptable, conformada por Módulos, pequeñas obras, partes de la obra genera ...
W3764
18.05.2011
The Children of the Divine Understanding of All (1914-?): Documentation of a Forgotten Religion - Kevin Swenson
WWW
NEW COMERS Welcome, and do not be nervous, for you will soon broaden your understandings on every aspect of this life you have been given. Children of All do things very differently. We do not focus or dwell upon the wrong things we have done; instead, w ...
NEW COMERS Welcome, and do not be nervous, for you will soon broaden your understandings on every aspect of this life you have been given. Children of All do things very differently. We do not focus or dwell upon the wrong things we have done; instead, w ...