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.

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

"400" - Manfred Pernice

Projets non réalisés: - Daniel Buren

Art and Ourselves: A Proposal for the city of Nordhorn - Allen Rupperssberg

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

Uncompleted 1966 - and on  - John Armleder

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4808
07.08.2012
Objekt - Dritan Hyska
WWW
I'm here to write to offer my project, titled "Objekt. My work is centered above all on architecture and urban spaces. I just need that on a construction site, harboring, in particular giving me a small space on the scaffold, a photo of variable size PVC ...
I'm here to write to offer my project, titled "Objekt. My work is centered above all on architecture and urban spaces. I just need that on a construction site, harboring, in particular giving me a small space on the scaffold, a photo of variable size PVC ...
W4489
25.05.2011
Unrealized Project  - Na'ama Zussman
WWW
Unrealized Project 1 God, memory, if you didn’t exist, I would have to create you. Na’ama Zussman This work offers an Ongoing Meeting Between Reality and Memory, onto anyone can reflects and projects himself, as his dimensions of presentation – pa ...
Unrealized Project 1 God, memory, if you didn’t exist, I would have to create you. Na’ama Zussman This work offers an Ongoing Meeting Between Reality and Memory, onto anyone can reflects and projects himself, as his dimensions of presentation – pa ...
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) ...
W4026
22.05.2011
Lucia Cullinane Garcia
WWW
Paintings made with mainly acrylics and mix media, such a 3d effects on them. Stunning to look at and very provocative. Public in general love them and they always attract loads of attention. Different, unique and original they have been descrived. Lu ...
Paintings made with mainly acrylics and mix media, such a 3d effects on them. Stunning to look at and very provocative. Public in general love them and they always attract loads of attention. Different, unique and original they have been descrived. Lu ...
W4748
27.05.2011
Retail Therapy - Double A Projects (A. Robles & A. Stein)
WWW
PROPOSAL Title of project: Retail Therapy By: Athena Robles and Anna Stein (aka Double A Projects) Similar to our public project Global Free Store, Retail Therapy is a non-commercial storefront and exhibition that would offer various service ...
PROPOSAL Title of project: Retail Therapy By: Athena Robles and Anna Stein (aka Double A Projects) Similar to our public project Global Free Store, Retail Therapy is a non-commercial storefront and exhibition that would offer various service ...
W4096
23.05.2011
Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
W4491
25.05.2011
An unrealized high relief sculpture project from Istanbul. - Dilara Akay
WWW
An unrealized high relief sculpture project from Istanbul. In October 2010 I was asked to propose a work for a building of a leading Turkish retail operation brand's headquarters in Istanbul. I made the presentation at the beginning of February 2011. And ...
An unrealized high relief sculpture project from Istanbul. In October 2010 I was asked to propose a work for a building of a leading Turkish retail operation brand's headquarters in Istanbul. I made the presentation at the beginning of February 2011. And ...
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: " ...
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. ...
W4600
25.05.2011
INVESTIGATION2 - SASCHA MIKLOWEIT
WWW
SASCHA MIKLOWEIT Unrealized project for a public transport or railway station Title: INVESTIGATION2 INTRODUCTION INVESTIGATION2 is the continuation of my field research project which started 2010 with INVESTIGATION1 (for detailed material regarding ...
SASCHA MIKLOWEIT Unrealized project for a public transport or railway station Title: INVESTIGATION2 INTRODUCTION INVESTIGATION2 is the continuation of my field research project which started 2010 with INVESTIGATION1 (for detailed material regarding ...
W3686
16.05.2011
Residue - christopher whittey
WWW
5/16/2011 Having gone through more than sufficient amounts of red tape, I procured permission to acquire shredded U.S. currency from a Federal Reserve Bank located in downtown Baltimore. Over the course of a few months, I picked up an estimated 40-50 m ...
5/16/2011 Having gone through more than sufficient amounts of red tape, I procured permission to acquire shredded U.S. currency from a Federal Reserve Bank located in downtown Baltimore. Over the course of a few months, I picked up an estimated 40-50 m ...
W4050
22.05.2011
Dublin book project. - leo Morrissey
WWW
Books are the source material for my work; I propose to create a series of cut-books influenced on my stay in Dublin. Irelands great literary tradition and the importance of text, language, and history in my work makes Dublin an ideal place for me to crea ...
Books are the source material for my work; I propose to create a series of cut-books influenced on my stay in Dublin. Irelands great literary tradition and the importance of text, language, and history in my work makes Dublin an ideal place for me to crea ...
W4676
26.05.2011
“WATER MOCCASIN SKIN” - Melanie Jamison
WWW
“WATER MOCCASIN SKIN” 2010 MELANIE JAMISON For the School of Latitudes program at Houston-based non-profit space labotanica, the artists in residence were asked to write a personal manifesto for growth. During this assignment, I came across a run-o ...
“WATER MOCCASIN SKIN” 2010 MELANIE JAMISON For the School of Latitudes program at Houston-based non-profit space labotanica, the artists in residence were asked to write a personal manifesto for growth. During this assignment, I came across a run-o ...
W3575
12.05.2011
CD COVER SCULPTURE. Concepts. - Javier Lamela
WWW
It sums up a trip to a temporary place where you live and work for a period of time. It depicts a leaf, not a seed which calls for roots, transported by wind, in a movement that goes along with the Planet Earth. It is, in fact, a digital leaf consisting o ...
It sums up a trip to a temporary place where you live and work for a period of time. It depicts a leaf, not a seed which calls for roots, transported by wind, in a movement that goes along with the Planet Earth. It is, in fact, a digital leaf consisting o ...
W3814
19.05.2011
Caitlin Masley
WWW
“…by remembering that cities are more than just habitats or geographical entities. They extend beyond networks of communication, commerce, sociality, or politics. Cities often exist in the form of memories and aspirations, and these cities are no less ...
“…by remembering that cities are more than just habitats or geographical entities. They extend beyond networks of communication, commerce, sociality, or politics. Cities often exist in the form of memories and aspirations, and these cities are no less ...
W4369
25.05.2011
Importance of some Note - Qi.ng
WWW
Importance of some Note 12x8" Digital capture of graphite on 3x3" scrap paper I once had a mentor who would grouse on about the term 'art projects', as though these were something that had a distinct end and finish. The debate would always return to ...
Importance of some Note 12x8" Digital capture of graphite on 3x3" scrap paper I once had a mentor who would grouse on about the term 'art projects', as though these were something that had a distinct end and finish. The debate would always return to ...
W10923
20.06.2015
T.A. 27 Sydney 2000 - Olympia Golden Track - Johannes Angerbauer-Goldhoff
WWW
1997 erfolgte nach einer längeren Planungs- und Verhandlungsphase die Unterzeichung des Finanzierungs- und Realisierung Vertrags für ein Soziales Kunstgroßprojekt zur Eröffnung der Olympischen Spiele in Sydney 2000. Die gesamte Laufbahn des Olympische ...
1997 erfolgte nach einer längeren Planungs- und Verhandlungsphase die Unterzeichung des Finanzierungs- und Realisierung Vertrags für ein Soziales Kunstgroßprojekt zur Eröffnung der Olympischen Spiele in Sydney 2000. Die gesamte Laufbahn des Olympische ...
W4794
14.06.2011
The Biggest Painting - Joost van Oss
WWW
The biggest painting. ...
W4007
22.05.2011
BEGGARS' BANQUET - Alessandro Rolandi
WWW
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
W4404
25.05.2011
The Interopticon  - Guleah - Guy Ben-Ari and Leah Wolff
WWW
The Interopticon The Interopticon is a proposal for an alternative processes of observation and learning in the shape of a conceptual discursive platform. It regards the subject as an object of research that is simultaneously absorbing knowledge and bei ...
The Interopticon The Interopticon is a proposal for an alternative processes of observation and learning in the shape of a conceptual discursive platform. It regards the subject as an object of research that is simultaneously absorbing knowledge and bei ...
W5251
10.10.2012
Katya Fialkova
WWW
The project was supposed to be a video in which an absurd woman tries to ‘fix’ nature. She puts skirts on trees, makeup on flowers and sunscreen on branches. She throws fabric over a gnarly tree stump to make it ‘prettier’. She measures a wide tre ...
The project was supposed to be a video in which an absurd woman tries to ‘fix’ nature. She puts skirts on trees, makeup on flowers and sunscreen on branches. She throws fabric over a gnarly tree stump to make it ‘prettier’. She measures a wide tre ...
W4691
26.05.2011
ZOE MACKLER
WWW
George W. Bush Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity ...
George W. Bush Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity ...
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 ...
W3510
11.05.2011
Urban Noir/L.A-NY - Helen K. Garber
WWW
Urban Noir/L.A-NY Noir – a feeling, mood, a sur-reality. The dark blanket of night softens the ugliness of the big city—the one called Los Angeles. Natural beauty ruined by three generations of cheap stucco housing and vast urban sprawl. Even the str ...
Urban Noir/L.A-NY Noir – a feeling, mood, a sur-reality. The dark blanket of night softens the ugliness of the big city—the one called Los Angeles. Natural beauty ruined by three generations of cheap stucco housing and vast urban sprawl. Even the str ...
W4709
26.05.2011
A Sculpture on Another Sculpture - Eduardo Villanueva
WWW
A SCULPTURE ON ANOTHER SCULPTURE An artwork by Eduardo Villanueva. Through the appropriation of an existing sculpture, I will intervene the same sculpture by altering it and doing another sculpture above the pre-existing one, acting as the pattern of ...
A SCULPTURE ON ANOTHER SCULPTURE An artwork by Eduardo Villanueva. Through the appropriation of an existing sculpture, I will intervene the same sculpture by altering it and doing another sculpture above the pre-existing one, acting as the pattern of ...
W5172
26.09.2012
Anca Benera + Arnold Estefan
WWW
We wanted to cut 0,892 cm² of soil from the Serpent Island - former Romanian territory, occupied by USSR in 1948 - a minuscule territory located in the northwestern Black Sea, which belongs now to Ukraine. ...
We wanted to cut 0,892 cm² of soil from the Serpent Island - former Romanian territory, occupied by USSR in 1948 - a minuscule territory located in the northwestern Black Sea, which belongs now to Ukraine. ...