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.

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Aguapracasa - Gabriel Orozco

Engel-Detektor - Jakob Gautel & Jason Karaïndros

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

Projekt für die Landschaft des Mont-de-Sene (Burgund) im Rahmen eines öffentlichen Auftrags des französischen Kultusministeriums - Markus Raetz

A FAIRLY TALL TOWER, 48,000 Miles High -  - Siah Armajani

Niemandsland - Hans Haacke

Progetto per Gerry Schum - Guiseppe Penone

Jake and Dinos Chapman's five proposals for an empty plinth situated on central londons trafalgar square - Jake and Dinos Chapman

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3974
21.05.2011
CLIFF PIPES PROPOSAL - Jason de Haan
WWW
A proposal for a set of organ pipes to be mounted on the face of an oceanic cliff. The pipes are to be mounted vertically on simple steel rods that are strategically placed along a section of cliff in order to translate strong vertical updrafts into indiv ...
A proposal for a set of organ pipes to be mounted on the face of an oceanic cliff. The pipes are to be mounted vertically on simple steel rods that are strategically placed along a section of cliff in order to translate strong vertical updrafts into indiv ...
W4797
14.06.2011
Robert Irwin's 4 Unrealized Projects - Judy Freya Sibayan
WWW
Robert Irwin's 4 Unrealized Projects: FREEWAY MONUMENT (Embarcadero, San Francisco, 1977); TILTED PLANES (Ohio State University, 1978); VARIOUS SIGHT LINES (Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1988); ALLEE (Winter Olympics, Albertville, France, 1992) ...
Robert Irwin's 4 Unrealized Projects: FREEWAY MONUMENT (Embarcadero, San Francisco, 1977); TILTED PLANES (Ohio State University, 1978); VARIOUS SIGHT LINES (Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1988); ALLEE (Winter Olympics, Albertville, France, 1992) ...
W3677
15.05.2011
Broken Monumen - ESTHER ACHAERANDIO
WWW
Broken Monument Mixed Media. 8x8x18cm. 2011. Broken Monument takes part of a projects that I was working on for pleasure since 2001. While this works is comprised of a diferent of mediums, they do not aim to ladder up to a singular thesis. That sai ...
Broken Monument Mixed Media. 8x8x18cm. 2011. Broken Monument takes part of a projects that I was working on for pleasure since 2001. While this works is comprised of a diferent of mediums, they do not aim to ladder up to a singular thesis. That sai ...
W4651
25.05.2011
Abscissa Abyss  - Darr Tah Lei
WWW
Abscissa Abyss Rhapsody Project for a 3D painting on a Dome Geometric figures will be drawn with black charcoal or black ink in a 360º degrees wall of a Dome including the ceiling. This display with geometric figures placed chaotically will be watched ...
Abscissa Abyss Rhapsody Project for a 3D painting on a Dome Geometric figures will be drawn with black charcoal or black ink in a 360º degrees wall of a Dome including the ceiling. This display with geometric figures placed chaotically will be watched ...
W4763
28.05.2011
Postpone - Postpone
WWW
Postpone is a creative agency, not yet created (but coming soon) gathering smart artistic workers operating in design, film and photography. The agency (T.M., O.Q., Y.B. and A. the secretary) are based in Oslo, London and Provence. Very near from some of ...
Postpone is a creative agency, not yet created (but coming soon) gathering smart artistic workers operating in design, film and photography. The agency (T.M., O.Q., Y.B. and A. the secretary) are based in Oslo, London and Provence. Very near from some of ...
W3621
14.05.2011
The 3 Muses of West Hollywood - Phil Tarley
WWW
Public Art For Street Installation in the City of West Hollywood, California ARTIST’S STATEMENT: THE 3 MUSES OF WEST HOLLYWOOD Who are we, the people of West Hollywood? Where do we come from? What do we do? As we live out our lives here ...
Public Art For Street Installation in the City of West Hollywood, California ARTIST’S STATEMENT: THE 3 MUSES OF WEST HOLLYWOOD Who are we, the people of West Hollywood? Where do we come from? What do we do? As we live out our lives here ...
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 ...
W5255
11.10.2012
Michael Schippling
WWW
The proposal is to increase the information content (entropy) of Shannon's original Information Theory paper by shredding and re-compacting it: http://www.etantdonnes.com/proposal/Conceptual%20Information%20Piece.html ...
The proposal is to increase the information content (entropy) of Shannon's original Information Theory paper by shredding and re-compacting it: http://www.etantdonnes.com/proposal/Conceptual%20Information%20Piece.html ...
W4637
25.05.2011
Tesseract - Darr Tah Lei
WWW
Inside a Tesseract is a project for a polyptych of six installations placed inside the structure of an imaginary folding/unfolding cube. The content of the six installations will correlate to each other organically, by the composition of essential element ...
Inside a Tesseract is a project for a polyptych of six installations placed inside the structure of an imaginary folding/unfolding cube. The content of the six installations will correlate to each other organically, by the composition of essential element ...
U9973
23.01.1993
Brücke Wein-Kanal Arch. Hermann Czech, Wein - Franz West
Unbuilt Roads
Denen, die in dieselben Flüsse steigen, fließen immer neue Wasser zu , und (immer neue) Seelen entsteigen der Feuchtigkeit. Heraklit, Fragment 12[1] Linkes Brückenauflager Ansicht Nordwest M 1:33 ...
Denen, die in dieselben Flüsse steigen, fließen immer neue Wasser zu , und (immer neue) Seelen entsteigen der Feuchtigkeit. Heraklit, Fragment 12[1] Linkes Brückenauflager Ansicht Nordwest M 1:33 ...
W4795
14.06.2011
Scott Redford
WWW
I propose that in the spirit of Wikileaks all Hans Ulrich Obrist and Serpentine Gallery notes, documents, papers and files including financial matters be published online. Let's see how the New Curator Romantics who wet their pants over Assange respond to ...
I propose that in the spirit of Wikileaks all Hans Ulrich Obrist and Serpentine Gallery notes, documents, papers and files including financial matters be published online. Let's see how the New Curator Romantics who wet their pants over Assange respond to ...
W3638
14.05.2011
lynn hershman Leeson
WWW
This piece reveals the biological system/internal workings of ballet dancers, particularly pregnant ones, who dance to the rhythm and sounds of their own blood stream and heartbeat. ...
This piece reveals the biological system/internal workings of ballet dancers, particularly pregnant ones, who dance to the rhythm and sounds of their own blood stream and heartbeat. ...
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 ...
W4036
22.05.2011
Daniel Joseph Martinez
WWW
Third Act for Goya is the unrealized component of Daniel Joseph Martinez’ android trilogy. Based on the central figure in Francisco Goya’s The Inquisition Scene (c.1816), the mechanical doppelganger of the artist gets up, steps to the edge of the plat ...
Third Act for Goya is the unrealized component of Daniel Joseph Martinez’ android trilogy. Based on the central figure in Francisco Goya’s The Inquisition Scene (c.1816), the mechanical doppelganger of the artist gets up, steps to the edge of the plat ...
W5231
08.10.2012
Trespassing - Ole Brodersen
WWW
The series “Trespassing” explores encounters between human and nature. Human-made objects are placed into a landscape, where their interactions with the natural elements are recorded. The photographer harnesses the forces of wind, currents and wave ...
The series “Trespassing” explores encounters between human and nature. Human-made objects are placed into a landscape, where their interactions with the natural elements are recorded. The photographer harnesses the forces of wind, currents and wave ...
W5486
24.10.2012
Top Ten Words I Am Sick of Seeing on Artists Statements - Andrea Liu
WWW
liminal space “in its final iteration” itinerant practice “rupture” or “suture” post-Fordism the performative dimension of language seeks to negotiate the tension between X and Y seeks to problemati ...
liminal space “in its final iteration” itinerant practice “rupture” or “suture” post-Fordism the performative dimension of language seeks to negotiate the tension between X and Y seeks to problemati ...
W4810
07.08.2012
Emily Windon
WWW
Emily Windon The Proposed Work to be developed: Large platforms for viewing digitally projected images: The work utilizes the construction of large viewing platforms that serve to both uplift and isolate the audience. The platforms are made of timber an ...
Emily Windon The Proposed Work to be developed: Large platforms for viewing digitally projected images: The work utilizes the construction of large viewing platforms that serve to both uplift and isolate the audience. The platforms are made of timber an ...
W3856
19.05.2011
THE SISTER COMPLEX - Jacob Stewart-Halevy
WWW
The Sister Complex is a film script written for captive audiences on Virgin America flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The forty minute length of the film is meant to correspond to the amount of time a traveler would have to watch their personal s ...
The Sister Complex is a film script written for captive audiences on Virgin America flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The forty minute length of the film is meant to correspond to the amount of time a traveler would have to watch their personal s ...
W10362
18.04.2014
Building Of a Heterogeneous Space of the Disappearance - Daniel Castellanos Reyes
WWW
Building Of An Heterogeneous Space Of The Disappearance will be an ephemeral construction shaped as one of the present balconies in what it used to be the Gebäude Des Reichsstatthalters Und Der Gauleitung. This proposal pretends to make an historical ...
Building Of An Heterogeneous Space Of The Disappearance will be an ephemeral construction shaped as one of the present balconies in what it used to be the Gebäude Des Reichsstatthalters Und Der Gauleitung. This proposal pretends to make an historical ...
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 ...
W5210
05.10.2012
The Ringer (What Every Tower Needs) - Zoe Mackler
WWW
Project Proposal In Brief -­ The Ringer (What Every Tower Needs) This work address the complex feelings of displacement and disconnect experienced by the Glasgow School of Art and the surrounding community during campus redevelopment. Honoring the ideals ...
Project Proposal In Brief -­ The Ringer (What Every Tower Needs) This work address the complex feelings of displacement and disconnect experienced by the Glasgow School of Art and the surrounding community during campus redevelopment. Honoring the ideals ...
W4631
25.05.2011
Free to Choose - Erik Wenzel
WWW
FOTA (Festival of the Arts) 2010 APPLICATION Title of Project: Free to Choose Name: Erik Wenzel
 Location: The Chicago Theological Seminary Duration: Installed for the length of FOTA, subject to CTS schedule STATEMENT I propose to make a ...
FOTA (Festival of the Arts) 2010 APPLICATION Title of Project: Free to Choose Name: Erik Wenzel
 Location: The Chicago Theological Seminary Duration: Installed for the length of FOTA, subject to CTS schedule STATEMENT I propose to make a ...
W3779
18.05.2011
Docks - Dina Weiss
WWW
By highlighting these remnants of the past, “Docks’ aims to animate history. The significance and impact of the past commerce in the water ways of the city and highlighting the beauty of the discarded and unused residues. ...
By highlighting these remnants of the past, “Docks’ aims to animate history. The significance and impact of the past commerce in the water ways of the city and highlighting the beauty of the discarded and unused residues. ...
W4221
24.05.2011
alhena
WWW
W4989
28.08.2012
Food Sluice - Ulrike Möntmann
WWW
FOOD SLUICE The literal reference of the Food Sluice is to a way of channelling food. Following the principle of a sluice, the flow of food between two spaces is regulated, without there ever being a direct, open connection between these spaces. Un ...
FOOD SLUICE The literal reference of the Food Sluice is to a way of channelling food. Following the principle of a sluice, the flow of food between two spaces is regulated, without there ever being a direct, open connection between these spaces. Un ...
W3878
19.05.2011
SCISSORGATE - Derek Michael Besant
WWW
SCISSORGATE Client: Banker’s Hall Downtown Tower Entry / Calgary Alberta Canada Date: 2003 Based on the child’s game; Scissors, Paper, Rock, these giant forms create an obstacle course of forms akin to a Japanese Garden. The offset wall where t ...
SCISSORGATE Client: Banker’s Hall Downtown Tower Entry / Calgary Alberta Canada Date: 2003 Based on the child’s game; Scissors, Paper, Rock, these giant forms create an obstacle course of forms akin to a Japanese Garden. The offset wall where t ...