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.

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

Art and Ourselves: A Proposal for the city of Nordhorn - Allen Rupperssberg

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

Ruderaltisch, 1994/95 Kunst am Bau - Projekt - Lois Weinberger

Invitation Space No.1 - Tania Mouraud

Post Photographic apparatus - Steven Pippin

Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill

KEEPING IN TOUCH - Allan Kaprow

Der New-Babyloner - Constant

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5202
03.10.2012
Samuel Gray Society  - Darryl Lauster
WWW
    The Samuel Gray Society is an educational foundation dedicated to the preservation of 18th century American history and to the life of Samuel Gray, the great patriot from whom the SGS takes its name. Forged in the crucible of hist ...
    The Samuel Gray Society is an educational foundation dedicated to the preservation of 18th century American history and to the life of Samuel Gray, the great patriot from whom the SGS takes its name. Forged in the crucible of hist ...
W5257
12.10.2012
Unseen Connections - Andrei Sidorkin
WWW
This is a project concerning social and institutional critique both. It is the play with the problem of localization of the place where art should happen, but suddenly it appears in another place than it was expected. And also this project reveals conform ...
This is a project concerning social and institutional critique both. It is the play with the problem of localization of the place where art should happen, but suddenly it appears in another place than it was expected. And also this project reveals conform ...
W4320
24.05.2011
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen  - Antoinette LaFarge
WWW
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen Initially proposed: 1991 Artist: Antoinette LaFarge Please refer to the accompanying JPEG from the original proposal. One day in 1991, I came across a flyer for a juried exhibition entitled “ ...
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen Initially proposed: 1991 Artist: Antoinette LaFarge Please refer to the accompanying JPEG from the original proposal. One day in 1991, I came across a flyer for a juried exhibition entitled “ ...
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 ...
W4995
30.08.2012
Black Fountain - Maarten Daudeij
WWW
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
W4526
25.05.2011
« game of survival in a cold store »  - Nathalie Talec
WWW
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
W4609
25.05.2011
Found Objects for Assemblages - Tom Fish Hoyum
WWW
Found Objects for Assemblages --- I create art from existing objects & assemble them. Pictures follow for the following: Book Club: 10 Chicago Tribunes from 1974 Nixon Resigns [in plastic bag.] Popeye & Evangeline Together Again. [Two dolls in willow d ...
Found Objects for Assemblages --- I create art from existing objects & assemble them. Pictures follow for the following: Book Club: 10 Chicago Tribunes from 1974 Nixon Resigns [in plastic bag.] Popeye & Evangeline Together Again. [Two dolls in willow d ...
W5754
21.05.2013
Like birds on the water - Laura Carthew
WWW
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
W3976
21.05.2011
Batya cavens
WWW
My body of work investigates, probes and puts to the test the boundaries of fine art. The concept is: traversing those formal academic and established definitions, and reaching into the academy of the street . ...
My body of work investigates, probes and puts to the test the boundaries of fine art. The concept is: traversing those formal academic and established definitions, and reaching into the academy of the street . ...
W4124
23.05.2011
Here/There - Matthew Slaats
WWW
Here/There Matthew Slaats Project Proposal Here/There is a virtual 3D exploration of the spatial, temporal, economic and physical relationships between environments in North and South America. Project Description Here/There aims to illustr ...
Here/There Matthew Slaats Project Proposal Here/There is a virtual 3D exploration of the spatial, temporal, economic and physical relationships between environments in North and South America. Project Description Here/There aims to illustr ...
W5900
18.10.2013
Ice zebra - Matthijs Muller
WWW
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
W4507
25.05.2011
Second nature – A dystopian view into virtual farming - Aditi Ruiz
WWW
Second nature – A dystopian view into virtual farming There are 80 million urban farmers across the world, but they are farming virtually through social networks. What does this imply for the future of the farm? How is this reshaping our perception o ...
Second nature – A dystopian view into virtual farming There are 80 million urban farmers across the world, but they are farming virtually through social networks. What does this imply for the future of the farm? How is this reshaping our perception o ...
W4966
22.08.2012
Bed-line - Efi Spyrou
WWW
Efi’s video “bed-line” invites us to mentally traverse a sterile, claustrophobic environment that includes more than one single spatial dimension in its space and more than one single temporal dimension in time. It emanates the energy of the absent, ...
Efi’s video “bed-line” invites us to mentally traverse a sterile, claustrophobic environment that includes more than one single spatial dimension in its space and more than one single temporal dimension in time. It emanates the energy of the absent, ...
W3828
19.05.2011
The Black Diagram - Patrik Aarnivaara
WWW
"The Black Diagram", 2010 was a continuation of the work An “A” Surrounded by a Circle, 2009. In my earlier work I deconstructed anarchist signs. In the unfinished project "The Black Diagram" I worked with the idea of “Post-anarchism”. Anarchi ...
"The Black Diagram", 2010 was a continuation of the work An “A” Surrounded by a Circle, 2009. In my earlier work I deconstructed anarchist signs. In the unfinished project "The Black Diagram" I worked with the idea of “Post-anarchism”. Anarchi ...
W5175
26.09.2012
Action Office III - Geissler Sann
WWW
Action Office III The first cubicles were designed in 1967 by Robert Propst. The purpose was to give the workers more privacy, to isolate them from sights and noises of an open workspace. Probst consulted for his research mathematicians, behavioral psych ...
Action Office III The first cubicles were designed in 1967 by Robert Propst. The purpose was to give the workers more privacy, to isolate them from sights and noises of an open workspace. Probst consulted for his research mathematicians, behavioral psych ...
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 ...
W3846
19.05.2011
We Prowl - Jodi Patterson
WWW
"We Prowl" series. Drew idealistic male forms on plastic as inspired by online personal profiles. Titles came from the tag lines used to lure a mate (submitting "Black Cat Hunting 4 Goddess" and "Wealth and Power"). Wealthy and Strong * 32- ...
"We Prowl" series. Drew idealistic male forms on plastic as inspired by online personal profiles. Titles came from the tag lines used to lure a mate (submitting "Black Cat Hunting 4 Goddess" and "Wealth and Power"). Wealthy and Strong * 32- ...
W5471
21.10.2012
La Gioconda Project - Gabor Ösz
WWW
Introduction A few years ago, when I first visited the Louvre, I was surprised to see that the signposts giving directions for the painting La Gioconda already started at the gates. As I was to learn later, there exists a form of cultural pilgrimage t ...
Introduction A few years ago, when I first visited the Louvre, I was surprised to see that the signposts giving directions for the painting La Gioconda already started at the gates. As I was to learn later, there exists a form of cultural pilgrimage t ...
W5461
21.10.2012
Living DNA - Nobuho Nagasawa
WWW
Project for UCLA Hospital, Los Angeles, California © Nobuho Nagasawa Concept: All living things contain DNA. The main role of DNA in the cell is the storage of information. It is often compared to a blueprint, since it contains the instructions ...
Project for UCLA Hospital, Los Angeles, California © Nobuho Nagasawa Concept: All living things contain DNA. The main role of DNA in the cell is the storage of information. It is often compared to a blueprint, since it contains the instructions ...
W4515
25.05.2011
Viktor Timofeev
WWW
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
W4895
10.08.2012
CayucoTours - Ralph Kistler
WWW
Project Name: CayucoTours Artist: Ralph Kistler Email: check-in@subtours.com Webpage: http://www.subtours.com CayucoTours was a selected project for the 3.Biennale of the Canary Islands that ...
Project Name: CayucoTours Artist: Ralph Kistler Email: check-in@subtours.com Webpage: http://www.subtours.com CayucoTours was a selected project for the 3.Biennale of the Canary Islands that ...
W4521
25.05.2011
The 5-Minute Fellowship  - Gabriela Vainsencher
WWW
The 5-Minute Fellowship The 5-Minute Fellowship is a project in which artists will each receive $20 in exchange for a small work made in 5 minutes. I will arrive at the 5-Minute fellows’ studios with materials, a camera and $20, and leave with a small ...
The 5-Minute Fellowship The 5-Minute Fellowship is a project in which artists will each receive $20 in exchange for a small work made in 5 minutes. I will arrive at the 5-Minute fellows’ studios with materials, a camera and $20, and leave with a small ...
W3489
11.05.2011
The Project for Collective Becoming: Philosophy of Platform - Marc Lafia
WWW
The Project for Collective Becoming Philosophy of Platform Marc Lafia What it is? We are creating a series of global gatherings to introduce and connect people through sociability, philosophic revelry, enjoyment, reflection and action. It involves b ...
The Project for Collective Becoming Philosophy of Platform Marc Lafia What it is? We are creating a series of global gatherings to introduce and connect people through sociability, philosophic revelry, enjoyment, reflection and action. It involves b ...
W4770
29.05.2011
jean-paul moreira
WWW
For the location of a site specific vegetable garden installation, from the end of winter 2007 until fall, behind Blaak bus stop, near the WdKA in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, I imagined, designed and planned a 4x6x3metres glass house where climbing plants ...
For the location of a site specific vegetable garden installation, from the end of winter 2007 until fall, behind Blaak bus stop, near the WdKA in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, I imagined, designed and planned a 4x6x3metres glass house where climbing plants ...
W5187
30.09.2012
Untitled (‘Hold my Emotions’)  - Betty Nigianni
WWW
Untitled (‘Hold my Emotions’) - - Cast objects, plaster moulds, and coloured wax, 10x8 cm approx. (2011) The objects were developed around the Romantic idea that physical forms can gain the significance of projected emotions. Objects, which were f ...
Untitled (‘Hold my Emotions’) - - Cast objects, plaster moulds, and coloured wax, 10x8 cm approx. (2011) The objects were developed around the Romantic idea that physical forms can gain the significance of projected emotions. Objects, which were f ...
W4508
25.05.2011
American Flag Kits - Paula Stuttman
WWW
American Flag Kits During the summer of 1998 I completed 20 American Flag Kits. What fascinates me about flags (and this goes for any country’s flag) is the object itself is nothing but colored cloth arranged into a snappy design. It is human investm ...
American Flag Kits During the summer of 1998 I completed 20 American Flag Kits. What fascinates me about flags (and this goes for any country’s flag) is the object itself is nothing but colored cloth arranged into a snappy design. It is human investm ...