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.

Social Resource Project For the Munich Olympics - Stephen Willats

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Project tor the Veterans Administration Hospital--Bay Pines, Florida. - Robert Morris

Theater der Leere - Werner Ruhnau and Yves Klein

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

PROPOSAL FOR SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION, IN PUBLIC - Chris Burden

AUSSICHTSTURM, HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS), SCHWIMMBECKEN, FREIE FAHRT - Maria Eichhorn

Eight Days a Week - Joe Scanlan

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

119. PROJET DE DESTRUCTION DU MUSEE 1970 - 1971 - Jef Geys

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5100
13.09.2012
je vois passer les roses - Copa & Sordes
WWW
One more idea for ornaments in public space and in private life. See PDF ...
One more idea for ornaments in public space and in private life. See PDF ...
W5342
18.10.2012
JEANNE TRIPIER JEANNE D'ARC - Paul Amlehn
WWW
Hi. My name is Paul Amlehn. My previous work has been exhibited at Art Basel and the Venice Biennale, and is held in the collections of MoMA, ZKM, and documenta archives. The work I am submitting is an outline for a performance work that was never realize ...
Hi. My name is Paul Amlehn. My previous work has been exhibited at Art Basel and the Venice Biennale, and is held in the collections of MoMA, ZKM, and documenta archives. The work I am submitting is an outline for a performance work that was never realize ...
W4559
25.05.2011
Being there and not here - Baptist Coelho
WWW
Artwork Details: Being there and not here, 2006 Mixed-media installation with performance Dimension of gardens: L 48 X B 52 X H 3 feet Installation dimensions: Variable Concept Note: The installation, Being there and not here, consists of two ide ...
Artwork Details: Being there and not here, 2006 Mixed-media installation with performance Dimension of gardens: L 48 X B 52 X H 3 feet Installation dimensions: Variable Concept Note: The installation, Being there and not here, consists of two ide ...
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 ...
W4170
24.05.2011
BASIC STRATEGIES - Ana Sucena, Claudia Costa, Pedro Guerra
WWW
BASIC STRATEGIES Our project aims the recognition of how natural, historic, and community cycles work, and uses these aspects to emphasize our design and the technical solutions we have chosen. The house is positioned on the lot in a way that allows e ...
BASIC STRATEGIES Our project aims the recognition of how natural, historic, and community cycles work, and uses these aspects to emphasize our design and the technical solutions we have chosen. The house is positioned on the lot in a way that allows e ...
D10802
01.01.1995
The museum as sleeping quarters for a man of the street - Danilo Duenas
DAAD
Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagin ...
Adorned* with 5 very tall constructive paintings made of “formaletas”* and tape and 11 smaller paintings on canvas with two colors installed in the exhibition hall of the “Museo Nacional” in Bogotá (a former 19th century panopticon), I had imagin ...
W5023
31.08.2012
Rooted - John Gayer
WWW
ROOTED This unrealised project primarily exists in the imagination. It involves an extended performance that demands stasis and proposes an evolutionary shift. This shift could take centuries to happen. The idea, in part, derives from a time when I produ ...
ROOTED This unrealised project primarily exists in the imagination. It involves an extended performance that demands stasis and proposes an evolutionary shift. This shift could take centuries to happen. The idea, in part, derives from a time when I produ ...
W4787
07.06.2011
Revolutions - Paul Muguet
WWW
Paul Muguet’s Unrealized Project for Year 2011: REVOLUTIONS Revolutions is about the reversal of popular imagery in times of crisis. The inspiration for this project comes from the European imagery about a country in which everything is reversed: " ...
Paul Muguet’s Unrealized Project for Year 2011: REVOLUTIONS Revolutions is about the reversal of popular imagery in times of crisis. The inspiration for this project comes from the European imagery about a country in which everything is reversed: " ...
W5436
20.10.2012
the “A” project  - Khalil Charif
WWW
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
the A project A global action to unite people and make sound waves from ourselves to be heard anywhere in the world. Description: a sound wave that get people from everywhere in the world to say "a", at the same time, for as longer as they can, unli ...
W3476
11.05.2011
Works of Denisa Lehocká - Denisa Lehocka
WWW
Born 1971 in Trencin, SK, Lives and works in Bratislava, SK Works of Denisa Lehocká association, imagination, intuition, subconscioussness, shape, question-mark, vessel, plate, bowl, container, vase, bin, hoppit, pot, receptacle, utensil, dish, tray, ...
Born 1971 in Trencin, SK, Lives and works in Bratislava, SK Works of Denisa Lehocká association, imagination, intuition, subconscioussness, shape, question-mark, vessel, plate, bowl, container, vase, bin, hoppit, pot, receptacle, utensil, dish, tray, ...
W5307
17.10.2012
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 ...
W3526
11.05.2011
T h e S o l a r E n e r g y F i e l d - Michael Jantzen
WWW
T h e S o l a r E n e r g y F i e l d Michael Jantzen © 2010 www.michaeljantzen.com ​My design inspiration for this alternative energy producing sculpture in the desert, comes from a conceptual symbolic representation of the micro energe ...
T h e S o l a r E n e r g y F i e l d Michael Jantzen © 2010 www.michaeljantzen.com ​My design inspiration for this alternative energy producing sculpture in the desert, comes from a conceptual symbolic representation of the micro energe ...
W5902
18.10.2013
Waterland - Matthijs Muller
WWW
Waterland is floating like a boat but has the appearance of an island. The busy city life suggested by the lampposts and traffic signs is alienated by the flexibility of the islands ground surface. Every wave in the water makes the pavement and poles mov ...
Waterland is floating like a boat but has the appearance of an island. The busy city life suggested by the lampposts and traffic signs is alienated by the flexibility of the islands ground surface. Every wave in the water makes the pavement and poles mov ...
W4936
19.08.2012
Niddah: 14 days - Gabriella Boros
WWW
As I turned 50, my self-image as a female began to change with the changes in my body. As I was approaching menopause, it interested me to understand why there was such a negative approach to female purity in my religion. I began to explore the Judaic pra ...
As I turned 50, my self-image as a female began to change with the changes in my body. As I was approaching menopause, it interested me to understand why there was such a negative approach to female purity in my religion. I began to explore the Judaic pra ...
W4119
23.05.2011
TIME:PIECE - LEWIS KOCH
WWW
TIME:PIECE, A PUBLIC ARTWORK BY LEWIS KOCH, to hang on the front facade of the museum building, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The banner's design, comprised of line drawing and text, presents an interpretation of the idea of time defined from ...
TIME:PIECE, A PUBLIC ARTWORK BY LEWIS KOCH, to hang on the front facade of the museum building, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The banner's design, comprised of line drawing and text, presents an interpretation of the idea of time defined from ...
W3971
21.05.2011
Unrealized Public Art Projects - Silvia Martí Marí (Spain)
WWW
Public Art Projects The Listener P.L.S. (“Public Listening Services –mobile unit-”). (“El escuchador. S. M. E. (Servicio Municipal Escuchador -unidad móvil-”). A public art project to provide a public and free mobile service -in the stre ...
Public Art Projects The Listener P.L.S. (“Public Listening Services –mobile unit-”). (“El escuchador. S. M. E. (Servicio Municipal Escuchador -unidad móvil-”). A public art project to provide a public and free mobile service -in the stre ...
W5157
24.09.2012
Proposals - Robert Strati
WWW
Robert Strati http://www.stratilab.com "Proposals" In the process of putting together a series of video proposals for installation projects at various museums I began to question the process… "Isn't this the exhibition itself... does it need to a ...
Robert Strati http://www.stratilab.com "Proposals" In the process of putting together a series of video proposals for installation projects at various museums I began to question the process… "Isn't this the exhibition itself... does it need to a ...
U9497
07.04.1997
Jake and Dinos Chapman's five proposals for an empty plinth situated on central londons trafalgar square - Jake and Dinos Chapman
Unbuilt Roads
commissioned by liberal daily broadsheet newspaper ironically suggesting the most unsuitable artists possible to produce the most unsuitable public sculpture never to be realized: ha ha ha, very funny we suggest one of the following: project 'Hawki ...
commissioned by liberal daily broadsheet newspaper ironically suggesting the most unsuitable artists possible to produce the most unsuitable public sculpture never to be realized: ha ha ha, very funny we suggest one of the following: project 'Hawki ...
U9913
01.01.1974
654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha
Unbuilt Roads
This was a proposal for the Defense Urban Development area in the city of Paris. The work, which takes on the appearance of a monument, would consist of stone or marble plates, bolted together to create a weather proof box-shaped container, housing shelve ...
This was a proposal for the Defense Urban Development area in the city of Paris. The work, which takes on the appearance of a monument, would consist of stone or marble plates, bolted together to create a weather proof box-shaped container, housing shelve ...
W4501
25.05.2011
My Modern Life
WWW
My Modern Life _ text The project shows the search of young Latvians for indivudual aims, wishes, planes, freedom and others – in Latvian, English, German and Russian. It is an interdisciplinary project of film, photography and interverntion i ...
My Modern Life _ text The project shows the search of young Latvians for indivudual aims, wishes, planes, freedom and others – in Latvian, English, German and Russian. It is an interdisciplinary project of film, photography and interverntion i ...
W5439
20.10.2012
Alkis Hadjiandreou
WWW
There were many ends within the British ‘end of empire’, just as the people who had lived under its sway faced a 'rich assortment of futures'... Unlike the full panoply of decolonization celebrations which had been pioneered in India.... ...
There were many ends within the British ‘end of empire’, just as the people who had lived under its sway faced a 'rich assortment of futures'... Unlike the full panoply of decolonization celebrations which had been pioneered in India.... ...
W10499
01.05.2014
White Point - Meeting Point - Esther Shalev-Gerz
WWW
Oslo, Norway, 2004 Permanent Installation In 2004 Esther Shalev-Gerz conceived White Point – Meeting Point as her invited proposal to the juried competition for a public artwork for Oslo’s new Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Mi ...
Oslo, Norway, 2004 Permanent Installation In 2004 Esther Shalev-Gerz conceived White Point – Meeting Point as her invited proposal to the juried competition for a public artwork for Oslo’s new Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Mi ...
W4993
29.08.2012
Stereo-Monocal - Marc Serra Roca
WWW
Stereo-Monocal live set deconstructs a digital audio mixer in an analogical, live and experiential medium. Both audio channels are represented by two streets running along a canal in Amsterdam, now morphed into audio gangways, as if they were part of a ...
Stereo-Monocal live set deconstructs a digital audio mixer in an analogical, live and experiential medium. Both audio channels are represented by two streets running along a canal in Amsterdam, now morphed into audio gangways, as if they were part of a ...
W4198
24.05.2011
"Erasing the borders" - Etta Säfve
WWW
Sketch for 8 mm film "Erasing the borders" man, smoke bombs, sea ...
Sketch for 8 mm film "Erasing the borders" man, smoke bombs, sea ...
W4227
24.05.2011
"5.9-by-8.5-inch Exhibition" - Toru Hayashi
WWW
"5.9-by-8.5-inch Exhibition" Selecting one of sketchbooks from my drawing project Equivocal Landscape* Publishing the same format (5.9 x 8.5 in. and 72 images of 144 pages) book as the sketchbook of Equivocal Landscape (at least 72 copies) ...
"5.9-by-8.5-inch Exhibition" Selecting one of sketchbooks from my drawing project Equivocal Landscape* Publishing the same format (5.9 x 8.5 in. and 72 images of 144 pages) book as the sketchbook of Equivocal Landscape (at least 72 copies) ...
W5036
01.09.2012
The Woodsquat Commemorative Pool Party - Gabriel Saloman
WWW
Gabriel Saloman The Woodsquat Commemorative Pool Party In the Fall of 2011, in response to call for artworks that addressed the site-specificity of Simon Fraser University's new campus in the heart of Vancouver's impoverished and turbulent Downtown ...
Gabriel Saloman The Woodsquat Commemorative Pool Party In the Fall of 2011, in response to call for artworks that addressed the site-specificity of Simon Fraser University's new campus in the heart of Vancouver's impoverished and turbulent Downtown ...