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.

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

The pyramids...to be seen to be believed - Jonathan Monk

Relatum (Iron Plate and Stone) - Lee Ufan

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George

Isometric Projection - Sol Lewitt

Placid Earth: A Project for the Meeting of Millennia - Cai Guo Quiang

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5193
01.10.2012
becoming the mountain - Aerial Sparks
WWW
When I decided to become a professional artist in 2005 , I was switching from a career to my vocation , ignorant of how the art world works I concluded the best means of gaining interest and artistic notoriety quickly was to make a selection of large co ...
When I decided to become a professional artist in 2005 , I was switching from a career to my vocation , ignorant of how the art world works I concluded the best means of gaining interest and artistic notoriety quickly was to make a selection of large co ...
W5896
18.10.2013
Golf course - Matthijs Muller
WWW
Golf courses are artificial landscapes with artificial hills and small artificial sand dunes. Now imagine a golf course (in the Netherlands, in the meadows), without those artificial hills and the small sand dunes replaced by metal versions on poles to pu ...
Golf courses are artificial landscapes with artificial hills and small artificial sand dunes. Now imagine a golf course (in the Netherlands, in the meadows), without those artificial hills and the small sand dunes replaced by metal versions on poles to pu ...
W4300
24.05.2011
Laundry Line - zavick botha
WWW
Washing clothes and laundry lines are common day to day images of human activity throughout most of the world. Although in Western society something so ordinary now takes place behind closed doors. Some people use clothes to express their identity, in oth ...
Washing clothes and laundry lines are common day to day images of human activity throughout most of the world. Although in Western society something so ordinary now takes place behind closed doors. Some people use clothes to express their identity, in oth ...
W3986
21.05.2011
EMOTIONAL SPACE - sculptor PhD, Aili Vahtrapuu, disainer Janika Vesberg
WWW
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
Project for Venice XII International Architectural Biennale : People meet in Architecture. An interactive installation to analyse and combine the aural and the visual STATEMENT : PEOPLE MEET IN ARCHITECTURE Venice XII International Architectural ...
W3490
11.05.2011
The boundless forwarding parcel - Eric Van Hove
WWW
The boundless forwarding parcel This unrealized project would consist in having a postal strongbox being shipped throughout the DHL or FedEx international express mail services endlessly. After it reaches a destination, the box is automatically shipped ...
The boundless forwarding parcel This unrealized project would consist in having a postal strongbox being shipped throughout the DHL or FedEx international express mail services endlessly. After it reaches a destination, the box is automatically shipped ...
W5000
30.08.2012
Kosuth Instruction Piece - Conny Blom
WWW
Conny Blom Kosuth Instruction Piece Text on A4. The Tributes is a growing series of loving, but somewhat humorous remakes of classic works of art by artists like John Baldessari, Bas Jan Ader, Douglas Gordon and more. Conny Blom remakes pieces that hav ...
Conny Blom Kosuth Instruction Piece Text on A4. The Tributes is a growing series of loving, but somewhat humorous remakes of classic works of art by artists like John Baldessari, Bas Jan Ader, Douglas Gordon and more. Conny Blom remakes pieces that hav ...
W5124
18.09.2012
Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid - Michael Arata
WWW
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
"Leaching The Grease Out Of A Cheese Pyramid" 1991-2012 The project (1991) consisted of ten pounds of white cheddar cheese carved into the shape of a stepped pyramid. The pyramid was placed on a 30 inch stack of newspapers bound together with braide ...
W5376
19.10.2012
FIRE! - Mary Behm-Steinberg
WWW
Statement for the bronze plaque (or documentation in the museum)*** Everywhere we look, the common person and the environment are under attack. Global warming; crop failures; poverty and starvation; the disappearance of the middle class and as America ...
Statement for the bronze plaque (or documentation in the museum)*** Everywhere we look, the common person and the environment are under attack. Global warming; crop failures; poverty and starvation; the disappearance of the middle class and as America ...
W5134
19.09.2012
Full Tr, Full Rf : The body posthuman, vol.1  - Mustafa Kemal Yurttas
WWW
The project proposal “Full Tr, Full Rf : The body posthuman, vol.1” highlightens the key concepts of identity, desire, simulation, cyborg through the materiality and immateriality of transformation, transition, transparency, transposition, trace a ...
The project proposal “Full Tr, Full Rf : The body posthuman, vol.1” highlightens the key concepts of identity, desire, simulation, cyborg through the materiality and immateriality of transformation, transition, transparency, transposition, trace a ...
W3909
20.05.2011
Unrealised proposal for Saatchi New Sensations, 2009 - Petra Swais and Najda El-Amriti
WWW
Having worked for three years alongside one another, but never producing work collaboratively, we have come to realise the strong connection between our individual practices. The most prominent link between our works is the notion of manipulation. By mani ...
Having worked for three years alongside one another, but never producing work collaboratively, we have come to realise the strong connection between our individual practices. The most prominent link between our works is the notion of manipulation. By mani ...
W3748
18.05.2011
SPOT ON - John Gayer
WWW
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
W3626
14.05.2011
Détente Reflection 195 - Jenny Zhe Chang
WWW
Détente Reflection 195 will be a series of 195 sculptures of intercut, deconstructed and reconstructed table tennis bats that uncannily explores cultural fusions and disconnections between East and West. The word détente of the title refers to the perma ...
Détente Reflection 195 will be a series of 195 sculptures of intercut, deconstructed and reconstructed table tennis bats that uncannily explores cultural fusions and disconnections between East and West. The word détente of the title refers to the perma ...
W4058
23.05.2011
Karl Jensen
WWW
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
“Yet as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure: but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; ...
W4891
10.08.2012
Rachael Agnew
WWW
This project questions the structure of the foundations of scientific reality based on the atomic model and contrasts this with the philosophy of phenomenology. The paradox of these two contrasting foundations creates an opening for exploration while also ...
This project questions the structure of the foundations of scientific reality based on the atomic model and contrasts this with the philosophy of phenomenology. The paradox of these two contrasting foundations creates an opening for exploration while also ...
W4759
27.05.2011
One Thousand Worlds in 16 minutes and 40 seconds - Nuala Clarke
WWW
TITLE: One Thousand Worlds in 16 minutes and 40 seconds FORM: A video installation in which 10 screens of indeterminate size are arranged site specifically. Each screen shows, for one second at a time, one of 1000 small square paintings from the exist ...
TITLE: One Thousand Worlds in 16 minutes and 40 seconds FORM: A video installation in which 10 screens of indeterminate size are arranged site specifically. Each screen shows, for one second at a time, one of 1000 small square paintings from the exist ...
W4260
24.05.2011
Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Proposal for the Walker Art Center Minneapolis 1987 ...
Proposal for the Walker Art Center Minneapolis 1987 ...
W5377
19.10.2012
Maya Zack
WWW
Brief description – the act of drawing as/and the act of eating Hunger is an unrealized video work that conceptually is base on the theme of the hunger for realization and materialization. It has been developing (and still is) over the past few y ...
Brief description – the act of drawing as/and the act of eating Hunger is an unrealized video work that conceptually is base on the theme of the hunger for realization and materialization. It has been developing (and still is) over the past few y ...
W4555
25.05.2011
UNTITED (WOVEN PORTICO) - Nicolas Feldmeyer
WWW
UNTITED (WOVEN PORTICO) Project for a site-specific installation, UCL Wilkins Building, London White fabric sheets, interwoven with the existing columns, give the portico of UCL’s Wilkins Building a temporary new monumentality. The space contained w ...
UNTITED (WOVEN PORTICO) Project for a site-specific installation, UCL Wilkins Building, London White fabric sheets, interwoven with the existing columns, give the portico of UCL’s Wilkins Building a temporary new monumentality. The space contained w ...
W4325
24.05.2011
Valery Koroshilov
WWW
A proposal for a mural "Artist's Studio" in a corporate environment interior, London 2010 ...
A proposal for a mural "Artist's Studio" in a corporate environment interior, London 2010 ...
W4046
22.05.2011
hold / collapse - Joe Dal Pra
WWW
Joe Dal Pra Installation Project: Title: hold / collapse Description: intertwining of linear structures into curving form. Structures are holding silhouettes of figures, planes, and parts. Materials: wood and steel. Size: variable dimensions ...
Joe Dal Pra Installation Project: Title: hold / collapse Description: intertwining of linear structures into curving form. Structures are holding silhouettes of figures, planes, and parts. Materials: wood and steel. Size: variable dimensions ...
W4470
25.05.2011
` NO LONGER EMPTY’S ABOUT FACE - Itziar Barrio
WWW
NO LONGER EMPTY’S ABOUT FACE FOR THE NEW MUSEUM’S FESTIVAL OF IDEAS FOR A NEW CITY MAY – JUNE, 2011 INTRODUCTION PROJECT DESCRIPTION ARTIST’S CONCEPT BACKGROUND & METHODOLOGY SCHEDULE BUDGET ABOUT FESTIVAL OF IDEAS INTRODUCTION For The 201 ...
NO LONGER EMPTY’S ABOUT FACE FOR THE NEW MUSEUM’S FESTIVAL OF IDEAS FOR A NEW CITY MAY – JUNE, 2011 INTRODUCTION PROJECT DESCRIPTION ARTIST’S CONCEPT BACKGROUND & METHODOLOGY SCHEDULE BUDGET ABOUT FESTIVAL OF IDEAS INTRODUCTION For The 201 ...
W4708
26.05.2011
Pool Sweep - Lisa Hein
WWW
POOL SWEEP Proposal for a Polluted River 2004 A kidney-shaped pool rim floats in an eddy of the Housatonic River. The pool has no bottom; the river fills it. Inside this enclosure, an animated buoy chugs about, trailing strings of floats ...
POOL SWEEP Proposal for a Polluted River 2004 A kidney-shaped pool rim floats in an eddy of the Housatonic River. The pool has no bottom; the river fills it. Inside this enclosure, an animated buoy chugs about, trailing strings of floats ...
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 ...
W4265
24.05.2011
Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Project for Hypothetical Pond Sonsbeek Arnheim, The Netherlands 1986 ...
Project for Hypothetical Pond Sonsbeek Arnheim, The Netherlands 1986 ...
W3757
18.05.2011
hotel de la gloria - Ivo Bonacorsi
WWW
hotel de la gloria an hotel &resort for artists ...
hotel de la gloria an hotel &resort for artists ...
W3794
18.05.2011
The Local Tourist Project - Tempestt Hazel
WWW
The Local Tourist Project Proposed for the Apex Art Franchise Call for 400-word Curatorial Proposals Tempestt Hazel | Chicago, 2010 Traveling from a place of familiarity to explore new territory has driven technology, expansion and economy on a globa ...
The Local Tourist Project Proposed for the Apex Art Franchise Call for 400-word Curatorial Proposals Tempestt Hazel | Chicago, 2010 Traveling from a place of familiarity to explore new territory has driven technology, expansion and economy on a globa ...