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.

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

Uncompleted 1966 - and on  - John Armleder

The Clock - Ayse Erkmen

"400" - Manfred Pernice

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

Memorial - Ilya Kabakov

Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer

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

Museum - Katharina Fritsch

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Mahe Gilles

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4438
25.05.2011
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel - Lauren Aston
WWW
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel I have created a score from Raphael’s painting The Vision of Ezekiel. The sixteenth century masterpiece has been translated into musical language to the extent that a mass of quavers jostling on the staves of a ...
The Sound of the Vision of Ezekiel I have created a score from Raphael’s painting The Vision of Ezekiel. The sixteenth century masterpiece has been translated into musical language to the extent that a mass of quavers jostling on the staves of a ...
W5079
06.09.2012
Urban Void 04  - Toornend & Post
WWW
Urban Void 04 (Church), Breidscheidplatz, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 2480×5100 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipo ...
Urban Void 04 (Church), Breidscheidplatz, Berlin (D) 2006 (lambdaprint 2480×5100 pixels) Urban Voids offer spatial relief, unexpected views and twisted collective memories by the apparently simple act of removal; Urban Voids are architectures antipo ...
W4102
23.05.2011
IMNOW (I-aM-NOW) - Shlomit Lehavi
WWW
IMNOW is an emergent identity composed of digital footprints across major social media platforms that challenges and explores current definitions of space (public vs. private, physical vs. virtual,) and time, with regard to contemporary notions of friends ...
IMNOW is an emergent identity composed of digital footprints across major social media platforms that challenges and explores current definitions of space (public vs. private, physical vs. virtual,) and time, with regard to contemporary notions of friends ...
W4174
24.05.2011
Arhat - Mitya Nesterov & Lera Nibiru
WWW
Arhat is a project consisting of photographs of mutants and other anatomic material installed in round spaceship-like viewports ...
Arhat is a project consisting of photographs of mutants and other anatomic material installed in round spaceship-like viewports ...
W4488
25.05.2011
Sketch railway viaduct - Katrin Korfmann
WWW
Sketch railway viaduct – Tiel, the Netherlands, 2009 The viaduct is located at the entrance of the city of Tiel. One passes it after leaving the highway and before entering the city. The viaduct shows a various mix of architecture with different styles ...
Sketch railway viaduct – Tiel, the Netherlands, 2009 The viaduct is located at the entrance of the city of Tiel. One passes it after leaving the highway and before entering the city. The viaduct shows a various mix of architecture with different styles ...
W3760
18.05.2011
2345 - Isabela Grosseova and Jesper Alvaer
WWW
2345 Public art proposal for Atlantic Ocean Drive, Norway. (English summary) (Norwegian in attached pdf) English summary: 2345: Proposal for the Atlantic Ocean Road 2010 The Atlantic Ocean Road (AOR) function already as a national monument. It ...
2345 Public art proposal for Atlantic Ocean Drive, Norway. (English summary) (Norwegian in attached pdf) English summary: 2345: Proposal for the Atlantic Ocean Road 2010 The Atlantic Ocean Road (AOR) function already as a national monument. It ...
W10296
01.01.2010
Industrial Park - Héctor Zamora
WWW
Industrial Park was proposed for 'Touched' the 6th Liverpool Biennial, 2010 Proposed to take place in the Liverpool docks area where new developments are replacing the old port and industry buildings, it is a large scale permanent intervention based on ...
Industrial Park was proposed for 'Touched' the 6th Liverpool Biennial, 2010 Proposed to take place in the Liverpool docks area where new developments are replacing the old port and industry buildings, it is a large scale permanent intervention based on ...
W3683
16.05.2011
Mumfordshire - A Megalopolis - Bruce Asbestos
WWW
Mumfordshire is unrealised plan for a megalopolis (a series of interconnected urban areas), which seeks to re-imagine a complex but positive future of mega-cities and society. Mumfordshire is partly based on revising Lewis Mumford’s idea that the Roman ...
Mumfordshire is unrealised plan for a megalopolis (a series of interconnected urban areas), which seeks to re-imagine a complex but positive future of mega-cities and society. Mumfordshire is partly based on revising Lewis Mumford’s idea that the Roman ...
W3783
18.05.2011
Eileen Neff
WWW
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
This work was originally submitted to 1.5 Million, a 2009 re-enactment of the Lucy Lippard's 1970 exhibition of the same name, when artists were invited to present ideas for work that could, but didn't necessarily exist. The work is an index size, 4"x6", ...
W3735
18.05.2011
Revelation - Felippe Moraes
WWW
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
W5313
17.10.2012
“The Account” 2011 - Georgina Criddle
WWW
“The Account” 2011, is a detailed sketch and testimony of an unrealised installation project in a gas station in Berlin. The two pieces attempt to suspend the work in a potential space between fiction and reality. ...
“The Account” 2011, is a detailed sketch and testimony of an unrealised installation project in a gas station in Berlin. The two pieces attempt to suspend the work in a potential space between fiction and reality. ...
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. ...
W4938
19.08.2012
You Are Here - Silvio Valpreda
WWW
Silvio Valpreda impossible art project YOU ARE HERE Kibera - Nairobi (Kenya) Statements Slum A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UNHABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking i ...
Silvio Valpreda impossible art project YOU ARE HERE Kibera - Nairobi (Kenya) Statements Slum A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UNHABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking i ...
W3477
11.05.2011
Douglas Park
WWW
Douglas Park, U.K based and internationally active visual artist, author (of literary prose and critical essays), as well as exhibition curator (and increasingly all practices combined) douglasrpark@googlemail.com http://www.myspace.com/douglas_park +44 7 ...
Douglas Park, U.K based and internationally active visual artist, author (of literary prose and critical essays), as well as exhibition curator (and increasingly all practices combined) douglasrpark@googlemail.com http://www.myspace.com/douglas_park +44 7 ...
W4656
25.05.2011
SELF-INDULGENT NATIONS  - Silvia Pereira
WWW
SILVIA PEREIRA Public art installation to be presented in World fairs. SELF-INDULGENT NATIONS This art piece presents groups of monumental flags of all nations in public space, ripped by the simulated weather effects of erosion. The decayed look of ...
SILVIA PEREIRA Public art installation to be presented in World fairs. SELF-INDULGENT NATIONS This art piece presents groups of monumental flags of all nations in public space, ripped by the simulated weather effects of erosion. The decayed look of ...
W4781
03.06.2011
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism  - Coralina Meyer
WWW
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism A proposal for a fresh urban perspective, the City of Today is a product of the Old Girls Club. It is a series of presentations/drawings/performances/historic fictions where clients are asked to parti ...
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism A proposal for a fresh urban perspective, the City of Today is a product of the Old Girls Club. It is a series of presentations/drawings/performances/historic fictions where clients are asked to parti ...
W5315
18.10.2012
Garet Martin
WWW
The attached text document explains a wall sculpture that, due to lack of funding, I was not able to complete. -- My work is oftentimes inspired by objects, which I have encountered simply by living my life; trash on the sidewalk, patterns on the t- ...
The attached text document explains a wall sculpture that, due to lack of funding, I was not able to complete. -- My work is oftentimes inspired by objects, which I have encountered simply by living my life; trash on the sidewalk, patterns on the t- ...
W5026
31.08.2012
Blow Job - Peter Friedl
WWW
Blow Job Peter Friedl Proposal, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2004 Blow Job (working title) is an exhibition project dealing with theatricality and its media possibilities. In the form of a monographically structured project, I treat various themes with wh ...
Blow Job Peter Friedl Proposal, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2004 Blow Job (working title) is an exhibition project dealing with theatricality and its media possibilities. In the form of a monographically structured project, I treat various themes with wh ...
W4474
25.05.2011
Ground Control - Diccon Spain
WWW
1 Introduction 1.1 Underpasses as attractive, minimalist and functional links in a holistic, uplifting, and sociable network. Polished near-white concrete walls with no art to disrupt the flow. On the ground scintillating white tarmac containing recycled ...
1 Introduction 1.1 Underpasses as attractive, minimalist and functional links in a holistic, uplifting, and sociable network. Polished near-white concrete walls with no art to disrupt the flow. On the ground scintillating white tarmac containing recycled ...
U9726
01.01.1971
KEEPING IN TOUCH - Allan Kaprow
Unbuilt Roads
A global network of simultaneously transmitting and receiving " TV Arcades." Open to the public twenty-four hours a day, like any washerette. An arcade in every big city of the world. Each equipped with a hundred or more monitors of different sizes from a ...
A global network of simultaneously transmitting and receiving " TV Arcades." Open to the public twenty-four hours a day, like any washerette. An arcade in every big city of the world. Each equipped with a hundred or more monitors of different sizes from a ...
W5126
18.09.2012
Porn I (Zootropo - Juan Alvarez-Durán
WWW
Porn (Part One) ‐ Zoetrope Continually subvert the function of the machine Nan Yun Paik There is a natural sense of the world, but those ways that men have given their perceptions. Jean Mitry The dictionary defines zoetrope. (Zoo‐and gr. Τρόπος ...
Porn (Part One) ‐ Zoetrope Continually subvert the function of the machine Nan Yun Paik There is a natural sense of the world, but those ways that men have given their perceptions. Jean Mitry The dictionary defines zoetrope. (Zoo‐and gr. Τρόπος ...
W5308
17.10.2012
Wilhelm-and-Jakob-Grimm-Center in B - Karla Sachse
WWW
Dear organizers of the Agency of Unrealized Projects, although near your deadline for contributions I would like to send you the draft for a shining column which could have marked the new big library temple called Wilhelm-and-Jakob-Grimm-Center in B ...
Dear organizers of the Agency of Unrealized Projects, although near your deadline for contributions I would like to send you the draft for a shining column which could have marked the new big library temple called Wilhelm-and-Jakob-Grimm-Center in B ...
W3573
12.05.2011
MOROSO Prize 2010 Proposal - Gabriele De Santis
WWW
Introduction Before this opportunity, I knew of Moroso, but I was not fortunate enough to fully engage with it in-depth. The first step was obviously to carefully explore the website. Through the images and literature offered I gained a better underst ...
Introduction Before this opportunity, I knew of Moroso, but I was not fortunate enough to fully engage with it in-depth. The first step was obviously to carefully explore the website. Through the images and literature offered I gained a better underst ...
W4436
25.05.2011
Lucy Hawthorne
WWW
I imagined the toothpick sculpture project as a lighthearted, easy to produce artwork - a method of shoehorning myself out of my artmaking slumber. 3000 toothpicks and 4 months later and I've barely made a dent. How does this object swallow so many toothp ...
I imagined the toothpick sculpture project as a lighthearted, easy to produce artwork - a method of shoehorning myself out of my artmaking slumber. 3000 toothpicks and 4 months later and I've barely made a dent. How does this object swallow so many toothp ...
W4132
23.05.2011
A Labyrinth of Illusions - Jerzy Olek
WWW
A Labyrinth of Illusions The exhibition would present my works from the series “The Dimensionslessness of Illusion”. Drawings, photographs, collages, computer graphics and stereomontages–all reflecting the variety of techniques used in the const ...
A Labyrinth of Illusions The exhibition would present my works from the series “The Dimensionslessness of Illusion”. Drawings, photographs, collages, computer graphics and stereomontages–all reflecting the variety of techniques used in the const ...
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 ...