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

d'un projet dédié aux victimes de la Shoah. - Christian Boltanski

Unbetitelt, Gänse-Projekt + Noch unbetitelt , " Durch den Mund sehen " + Kartoffeln  - Carsten Holler

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

Time Magazine Cover - Robert Rauschenberg

Entwurf für einen erneuerten Malkasten 1992 - 1994 - Ulrike Holthöfer

Unrealized Turtles 1967 - Joseph Grigely

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

Social Resource Project For the Munich Olympics - Stephen Willats

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

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4118
23.05.2011
HOLYBOX, ARTE CONTEMPORANEA - Gennaro Cicalese
WWW
I call me post-fluxus painter, so, most part of my projects are draws that I use to preview my paintings. Sometimes I make draws that never becomes paintings, but just remains unrealized projects, ideas on paper... I send you two of this draws, two ...
I call me post-fluxus painter, so, most part of my projects are draws that I use to preview my paintings. Sometimes I make draws that never becomes paintings, but just remains unrealized projects, ideas on paper... I send you two of this draws, two ...
W4561
25.05.2011
FONTAINE DU BASSIN D'APOLLON- PALAIS DU VERSAILLES- PARIS. - Eduardo Villanueva
WWW
FONTAINE DU BASSIN D'APOLLON- PALAIS DU VERSAILLES- PARIS. An artwork by Eduardo Villanueva. This artwork or mischief consist in re-create a simulacrum of a terrorist act without causing serious consequences. The main act consist in throwing a bronze c ...
FONTAINE DU BASSIN D'APOLLON- PALAIS DU VERSAILLES- PARIS. An artwork by Eduardo Villanueva. This artwork or mischief consist in re-create a simulacrum of a terrorist act without causing serious consequences. The main act consist in throwing a bronze c ...
W4788
09.06.2011
Summer Resort - Andrea Kalinova
WWW
summer resort 2009 Video 5´7´´/ photos 10x15 cm, documents Greek island of Lesbos belongs among the major input “gates” for refugees from Asia to Western Europe. Distance between Turkey and Greece is here just 10 nautical miles. During my stay ...
summer resort 2009 Video 5´7´´/ photos 10x15 cm, documents Greek island of Lesbos belongs among the major input “gates” for refugees from Asia to Western Europe. Distance between Turkey and Greece is here just 10 nautical miles. During my stay ...
W3792
18.05.2011
TYRE GARDEN - Agnieszka Wolodzko
WWW
Participatory action with a catastrophy in the background. My project is based on an assumption that in future, in result of economic / political / climatic crises, European cities, will surrender to a total degradation and it will gradually get a char ...
Participatory action with a catastrophy in the background. My project is based on an assumption that in future, in result of economic / political / climatic crises, European cities, will surrender to a total degradation and it will gradually get a char ...
W4353
25.05.2011
Circular escalator - Ricardo Gomes
WWW
Circular escalator Through our research of the City of Perth’s master plan, the public success of the revitalization of Forrest Place not only depends upon the current restructuring already under way in the vicinity, but also upon the creation of a n ...
Circular escalator Through our research of the City of Perth’s master plan, the public success of the revitalization of Forrest Place not only depends upon the current restructuring already under way in the vicinity, but also upon the creation of a n ...
U9641
01.01.1995
Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill
Unbuilt Roads
Project 1 Title: untitled. Seeding the Indian Ocean (between Europe and S. E. Asia) with text-coconuts. Year: 1995 Description: Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) inhabit the entire tropical belt. They were the only palms common to both the Old and t ...
Project 1 Title: untitled. Seeding the Indian Ocean (between Europe and S. E. Asia) with text-coconuts. Year: 1995 Description: Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) inhabit the entire tropical belt. They were the only palms common to both the Old and t ...
W4101
23.05.2011
« CREPUSCULE MATINALE »  - RAFFAELLA DELLA OLGA
WWW
« Crepuscule Matinale - homage to Erik Satie » is a project where the ventilation ducts of the Georges Pompidou Centre forecourt receive a makeover and put on an act of playing Furniture Music, the brain child of Erik Satie between 1917 and 1923. By eq ...
« Crepuscule Matinale - homage to Erik Satie » is a project where the ventilation ducts of the Georges Pompidou Centre forecourt receive a makeover and put on an act of playing Furniture Music, the brain child of Erik Satie between 1917 and 1923. By eq ...
W4552
25.05.2011
Untitled - Charmi Gada Shah
WWW
Title: ‘Untitled’ Description: This is a sketch for a site-specific work wherein the façade of a gallery in Mumbai is superimposed by another façade in London, constructed by means of a photographic reference taken by the artist many years ago ...
Title: ‘Untitled’ Description: This is a sketch for a site-specific work wherein the façade of a gallery in Mumbai is superimposed by another façade in London, constructed by means of a photographic reference taken by the artist many years ago ...
W5440
20.10.2012
Live Baghdad Live London - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
W4659
25.05.2011
Correspondence. - Mark Rowan-Hull
WWW
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
Correspondence. Hearing /Vision. 2010. I am a visual artist who works mostly live in performance with Music. This work has evolved partly through my own joint practice as an artist and musician and through my own unique experience of seeing music and ...
W4320
24.05.2011
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen  - Antoinette LaFarge
WWW
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen Initially proposed: 1991 Artist: Antoinette LaFarge Please refer to the accompanying JPEG from the original proposal. One day in 1991, I came across a flyer for a juried exhibition entitled “ ...
Unrealized Project Title: Found Object: Robert Allen Initially proposed: 1991 Artist: Antoinette LaFarge Please refer to the accompanying JPEG from the original proposal. One day in 1991, I came across a flyer for a juried exhibition entitled “ ...
W4889
10.08.2012
Outpost - Ann Messner
WWW
Call me mad. During 2005-7 I built a place within a place in my studio, in effect I occupied the space with a work that came to be titled 'outpost'. I just assumed I would find a public site to temporarily install the work; more specifically an open civic ...
Call me mad. During 2005-7 I built a place within a place in my studio, in effect I occupied the space with a work that came to be titled 'outpost'. I just assumed I would find a public site to temporarily install the work; more specifically an open civic ...
U9622
01.01.1970
119. PROJET DE DESTRUCTION DU MUSEE 1970 - 1971 - Jef Geys
Unbuilt Roads
Plan pour devoir Musée o'anu[?]s avec autorisation et aide de ministères contactes (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Refus ministères de la defense etc. Publications: Kempens informatieblad Contact ...
Plan pour devoir Musée o'anu[?]s avec autorisation et aide de ministères contactes (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Refus ministères de la defense etc. Publications: Kempens informatieblad Contact ...
W10588
21.06.2014
The Surrey Flame - Jonathan Parsons
WWW
Proposal to re-use the dismantled aluminium Olympic Rings that were sited on Box Hill during the cycling road race of London 2012 The forms that resulted from the way the original aluminium Olympic rings had been deconstructed inspired me to design a s ...
Proposal to re-use the dismantled aluminium Olympic Rings that were sited on Box Hill during the cycling road race of London 2012 The forms that resulted from the way the original aluminium Olympic rings had been deconstructed inspired me to design a s ...
W4247
24.05.2011
Writing on the wall - Eric Fong
WWW
This project is inspired by the political, economic and cultural changes in China and Germany in 1989 and after. While East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania moved towards democracy in 1989, China killed pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Squ ...
This project is inspired by the political, economic and cultural changes in China and Germany in 1989 and after. While East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania moved towards democracy in 1989, China killed pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Squ ...
W4429
25.05.2011
The Snow Leopard Garden - Yutaka Sone
WWW
Yutaka Sone The Snow Leopard Garden Project for the wood of sculptures of Vassivière island, France July 2009 In the meadow, in the front of the Centre international d’art et du paysage and the dam In the framework of his solo exhibition for t ...
Yutaka Sone The Snow Leopard Garden Project for the wood of sculptures of Vassivière island, France July 2009 In the meadow, in the front of the Centre international d’art et du paysage and the dam In the framework of his solo exhibition for t ...
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 ...
W5496
30.10.2012
Hermitage Pilgrimage: Art Video - Sheridan Lowrey
WWW
The first project, "Contemporary Neo-Objective Sculpture," describes a combination of objects, an installation, which I prefer to leave as text. The second, "Hermitage Toilet Overflow," an unawarded sabbatical proposal. Sheridan Lowrey Full-time Fa ...
The first project, "Contemporary Neo-Objective Sculpture," describes a combination of objects, an installation, which I prefer to leave as text. The second, "Hermitage Toilet Overflow," an unawarded sabbatical proposal. Sheridan Lowrey Full-time Fa ...
W4190
24.05.2011
ZhangLu
WWW
The political speech in China, most of speaker are speaked with unacceptable slow tunes. And clapping of the time may longer than a sentence. This project is consists of tow parts, a book and an online game. The book is about how to made the handclap in d ...
The political speech in China, most of speaker are speaked with unacceptable slow tunes. And clapping of the time may longer than a sentence. This project is consists of tow parts, a book and an online game. The book is about how to made the handclap in d ...
W5182
29.09.2012
Stuttgarts Crocodile - Adi Sumic
WWW
New extraordinary pattern design for brand new Porsche Cayman car. See PDF ...
New extraordinary pattern design for brand new Porsche Cayman car. See PDF ...
W10561
08.06.2014
THE FLUID PAVILION OF ARCHITECTURE - MARIA KARACHRISTOU
WWW
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
The fluid pavilion of architecture is a model for expression in contemporary aesthetics. It’s a conceptual model based on the theories of Deleuze about Leibniz and Baroque. The Baroque endlessly produces folds. Deleuze writes: We can better underst ...
U9303
01.06.1990
PROPOSAL FOR SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION, IN PUBLIC - Chris Burden
Unbuilt Roads
I propose that a typical working fisherman's boat 30 to 50 feet in length be attached to the side of the new Seattle Art Museum building. The boat's bow would point skyward, it's keel resting along one side of the building . A cable from the roof to the b ...
I propose that a typical working fisherman's boat 30 to 50 feet in length be attached to the side of the new Seattle Art Museum building. The boat's bow would point skyward, it's keel resting along one side of the building . A cable from the roof to the b ...
W3681
16.05.2011
Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson
WWW
The Blame is a proposal for an inflatable sign to be ferried around the island of Cyprus by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot tug boats. The sign will be made from multi-coloured letters mounted on a floating pontoon and stand around 4 metres high. ...
The Blame is a proposal for an inflatable sign to be ferried around the island of Cyprus by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot tug boats. The sign will be made from multi-coloured letters mounted on a floating pontoon and stand around 4 metres high. ...
W5090
10.09.2012
Glass Drummers Pavilion - Olivia Booth
WWW
Call for Unrealized Projects Olivia Booth September, 2012 oabooth@yahoo.com www.oliviabooth.net GLASS DRUMMERS PAVILION This repositionable glass drummer's pavilion is meant to latch on to the ground level of any international style ...
Call for Unrealized Projects Olivia Booth September, 2012 oabooth@yahoo.com www.oliviabooth.net GLASS DRUMMERS PAVILION This repositionable glass drummer's pavilion is meant to latch on to the ground level of any international style ...
W4578
25.05.2011
LAIKART - Eirene Efstathiou, Maria Michou, Iris Plaitakis
WWW
LAIKART artist group for unrealized utopian projects Inception LAIKART was an artist group founded in Athens, Greece, by Eirene Efstathiou (artist), Maria Michou (architect) and Iris Plaitakis (artist / archaeologist). In 2006, when LAIKART to ...
LAIKART artist group for unrealized utopian projects Inception LAIKART was an artist group founded in Athens, Greece, by Eirene Efstathiou (artist), Maria Michou (architect) and Iris Plaitakis (artist / archaeologist). In 2006, when LAIKART to ...
W5305
17.10.2012
Otherhedron - Lucy Pullen, Carolina Trigo
WWW
“Otherhedron is a trip. From pole to pole, the object moves around the world like a pebble rolling gently on the ground. Demarcating locations as nodes or points in the globe that, when joined, trace a plane much like one of the sides of Otherhedron." ...
“Otherhedron is a trip. From pole to pole, the object moves around the world like a pebble rolling gently on the ground. Demarcating locations as nodes or points in the globe that, when joined, trace a plane much like one of the sides of Otherhedron." ...