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.

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

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

Theater der Leere - Werner Ruhnau and Yves Klein

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

Uncompleted 1966 - and on  - John Armleder

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

Billboard - Jimmie Durham

Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5366
19.10.2012
Dorit Feldman, Orna Oren Izraeli and Na'ama Zussman
WWW
Three artists explore and forge different interactions that exist in the real world and project them onto their surfaces. This is a proposal that suggests a unique practice of the library, on its books, ephemera and other objects of use, as if they w ...
Three artists explore and forge different interactions that exist in the real world and project them onto their surfaces. This is a proposal that suggests a unique practice of the library, on its books, ephemera and other objects of use, as if they w ...
W3807
18.05.2011
The Ethereal Battle - David Normal
WWW
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
W5465
21.10.2012
Letters from the Earth - Joe Cantrell
WWW
a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our ...
a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our ...
W4563
25.05.2011
darius
WWW
Well, I do not know nevertheless I tend to imagine it being not. As for me, life seems to be a continuous experience. I suppose, if you’re only interested in the individual – arguably a rather crude segregation. But isn’t it also true ...
Well, I do not know nevertheless I tend to imagine it being not. As for me, life seems to be a continuous experience. I suppose, if you’re only interested in the individual – arguably a rather crude segregation. But isn’t it also true ...
W3680
16.05.2011
THE STREAM - robert sherwood duffield
WWW
The Stream was a research project I had proposed at The University of Newcastle to be set and running by the year 2000 in Sydney. The Stream was to a 100-year continuous movie that would be available via a web page http://www.The-Stream.cc. There was to ...
The Stream was a research project I had proposed at The University of Newcastle to be set and running by the year 2000 in Sydney. The Stream was to a 100-year continuous movie that would be available via a web page http://www.The-Stream.cc. There was to ...
W3569
12.05.2011
National Address, Art Education for the public 1985  - Julianna Balogh
WWW
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
W4277
24.05.2011
sarah brothers
WWW
This is a painting I started about a year and a half ago, and never finished - on purpose.I decided I liked the un-finished look for this piece. I had initially done the skull to represent the 'death of spirit' feeling I had due to picking up smoking agai ...
This is a painting I started about a year and a half ago, and never finished - on purpose.I decided I liked the un-finished look for this piece. I had initially done the skull to represent the 'death of spirit' feeling I had due to picking up smoking agai ...
W4764
28.05.2011
Juliana BIttencourt
WWW
I would like to ask if I still can submit my project. It was part of an exhibition en Brazil of unrealized projects. http://projetosnatemporada.org/en/ The curators told me about this site but I´m afraid is to late. Thanks a lot, Juliana Bittencourt ...
I would like to ask if I still can submit my project. It was part of an exhibition en Brazil of unrealized projects. http://projetosnatemporada.org/en/ The curators told me about this site but I´m afraid is to late. Thanks a lot, Juliana Bittencourt ...
W3881
19.05.2011
Ned James & the Swifts
WWW
Proposal: Part 1. Use the artists fee to place 1000 £1 bets on the races during St Patrick’s Day. Dressed as the embodiment of St Patrick placing the bets one after another will take all day and create a performance of endurance and intrigue. T ...
Proposal: Part 1. Use the artists fee to place 1000 £1 bets on the races during St Patrick’s Day. Dressed as the embodiment of St Patrick placing the bets one after another will take all day and create a performance of endurance and intrigue. T ...
W4109
23.05.2011
Floating Gardens of Rock City - Liliane Lijn
WWW
Floating Gardens of Rock City 1970 63.5 x 53 cm Collaged newspaper / magazine cuttings mounted on coloured card Exhibited in Propositions for Unrealised Projects Howard Wise Gallery, New York A set of four collages in which I visualised transform ...
Floating Gardens of Rock City 1970 63.5 x 53 cm Collaged newspaper / magazine cuttings mounted on coloured card Exhibited in Propositions for Unrealised Projects Howard Wise Gallery, New York A set of four collages in which I visualised transform ...
W4153
23.05.2011
Unrealized Projects 1997 —2002 - Cornford & Cross
WWW
For us, a key function of contemporary art in an open society is to test concepts, assumptions and boundaries. One way we do this is through making site-specific work in public places; our projects are often satirical or polemic in nature, and involve a d ...
For us, a key function of contemporary art in an open society is to test concepts, assumptions and boundaries. One way we do this is through making site-specific work in public places; our projects are often satirical or polemic in nature, and involve a d ...
U9263
01.01.1974
CIVITAS Stadtpostkarten - Lothar Baumgarten
Unbuilt Roads
Einige Überlegungen zur Emblematik von Ansichtskarten. Abgebildete Sehenswürdigkeiten gelangen auf Ansichtskarten durch die häufig gewählte Zentralperspektive in die Nähe ausgestellter Backwaren. Die siegelhaft stilisierte Heraldik, eines immer wiede ...
Einige Überlegungen zur Emblematik von Ansichtskarten. Abgebildete Sehenswürdigkeiten gelangen auf Ansichtskarten durch die häufig gewählte Zentralperspektive in die Nähe ausgestellter Backwaren. Die siegelhaft stilisierte Heraldik, eines immer wiede ...
W4645
25.05.2011
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison - Jenny Polak
WWW
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison. A proposal by Jenny Polak 500 ch Porta-Prison is a fictional design proposal: a deployable detention center conceived to bring seasonal labour to farms. The project includes an interactive promotional website ...
Deployable Detention Center: Porta-Prison. A proposal by Jenny Polak 500 ch Porta-Prison is a fictional design proposal: a deployable detention center conceived to bring seasonal labour to farms. The project includes an interactive promotional website ...
D10803
09.09.2012
Untitled  - Theo Eshetu
DAAD
W3678
15.05.2011
The Bardo Board Game Project - barbara russell
WWW
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
I have revisited “The Bardo Board Game Project” with great excitement and joy thanks to you! I share an exciting temporary art installation that can benefit families whose children face day-to-day life decision challenges that take them away from a c ...
W4472
25.05.2011
“Skagen” - Björn Drenkwitz
WWW
“Skagen” Starting point of my video "Skagen" is on one side the "economic colonialization“ of the sea and the attempt to tame and utilise this physical power. On the other side the very own power of the sea which catches up to us in the form of ...
“Skagen” Starting point of my video "Skagen" is on one side the "economic colonialization“ of the sea and the attempt to tame and utilise this physical power. On the other side the very own power of the sea which catches up to us in the form of ...
W4212
24.05.2011
Louvre - Gábor 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 ...
W4309
24.05.2011
“Face2 eyes spin” - dineo seshee bopape
WWW
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
W3879
19.05.2011
SPLASH - Derek Michael Besant
WWW
Seating in the Epcore Centre for Performing Arts turns into an oil spill Client: Epcore Centre for Performing Arts / Calgary Alberta Canada Date: 1990 Central hall of new Epcore Centre designed as public seating area at base of Splash. Sculptur ...
Seating in the Epcore Centre for Performing Arts turns into an oil spill Client: Epcore Centre for Performing Arts / Calgary Alberta Canada Date: 1990 Central hall of new Epcore Centre designed as public seating area at base of Splash. Sculptur ...
W5897
18.10.2013
Sempervirens - Matthijs Muller
WWW
W5346
18.10.2012
Lisa Bateman
WWW
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
W10287
01.01.2007
Anthroepiphytic - Héctor Zamora
WWW
Dimensions: Variable Technique: scaffolding structure Exhibition: Frontera - Esbozo para la creación de una sociedad del futuro Place: Frontera Corozal - Chiapas - México Antroepiphytic consists of the building of a walkable tower around an ...
Dimensions: Variable Technique: scaffolding structure Exhibition: Frontera - Esbozo para la creación de una sociedad del futuro Place: Frontera Corozal - Chiapas - México Antroepiphytic consists of the building of a walkable tower around an ...
W5269
13.10.2012
The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique - Nu'a Bön
WWW
"The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique". Bikiki Atoll 1946 Thangka numérique (2009); Aotearoa 2009 Thangka numérique (2009). Visual ruminations on the agency and agendas of critical thinking in art, buddhist teachings, and digital technology ...
"The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique". Bikiki Atoll 1946 Thangka numérique (2009); Aotearoa 2009 Thangka numérique (2009). Visual ruminations on the agency and agendas of critical thinking in art, buddhist teachings, and digital technology ...
U9926
01.01.1997
The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons
Unbuilt Roads
In collaboration with Brooklyn Technical High School and Andrea Claire The Rosetta Garden Proposal for a vacant lot, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Gary Simmons' proposal is both a reclamation of vacant land and the physical embodiment of philosophical pu ...
In collaboration with Brooklyn Technical High School and Andrea Claire The Rosetta Garden Proposal for a vacant lot, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Gary Simmons' proposal is both a reclamation of vacant land and the physical embodiment of philosophical pu ...
W5006
30.08.2012
Das soziale NetzKunstwerk - Karen Eliot
WWW
An internet forum/ social network for Open Source Art projects: Artists always have unrealized ideas - things that just slumber in sketchbooks forever. We want to create a website, where users can propose such projects and leave it open for others to adop ...
An internet forum/ social network for Open Source Art projects: Artists always have unrealized ideas - things that just slumber in sketchbooks forever. We want to create a website, where users can propose such projects and leave it open for others to adop ...
W4892
10.08.2012
Ben Sloat
WWW
A golden inflatable, each uniquely patterned, is produced in a glass case upon the viewer's initiative (stepping on a red button). The artwork very slowly inflates (3-5 minutes), then is suddenly released! It rises and flies out an above window. ...
A golden inflatable, each uniquely patterned, is produced in a glass case upon the viewer's initiative (stepping on a red button). The artwork very slowly inflates (3-5 minutes), then is suddenly released! It rises and flies out an above window. ...