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.

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

Invitation Space No.1 - Tania Mouraud

Dog Jaw Monument - A Futurist Tele-introject - Leon Golub

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

Festival du film de famille - Pierre Huyghe

Projekt für die Landschaft des Mont-de-Sene (Burgund) im Rahmen eines öffentlichen Auftrags des französischen Kultusministeriums - Markus Raetz

NON REALIZED PROJECTS - Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Sol Lewitt

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
U9285
01.01.1969
Monumento all'agricoltura 1969-70 - Alighiero Boetti
Unbuilt Roads
In Turin von Alighiero Boetti für Fiat entworfenes Projekt, das im Rahmen der Landwirtschaftsausstellung 1970 in Verona prasentiert werden sollte, auf der die Firma vertreten war. Es sah eine etwa zwanzig Meter hohe Saüle vor, die die verschiedenen Schi ...
In Turin von Alighiero Boetti für Fiat entworfenes Projekt, das im Rahmen der Landwirtschaftsausstellung 1970 in Verona prasentiert werden sollte, auf der die Firma vertreten war. Es sah eine etwa zwanzig Meter hohe Saüle vor, die die verschiedenen Schi ...
W3589
13.05.2011
Failed Music Store - Luke Munn
WWW
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...
W4780
03.06.2011
Emily Lockren
WWW
I have attached one collage and one edited image of unrealized artwork based around the idea of my paintings displayed on a bookshelf with only the edges visible like the spines of books. I envisioned a library of paintings, but never had the rescources t ...
I have attached one collage and one edited image of unrealized artwork based around the idea of my paintings displayed on a bookshelf with only the edges visible like the spines of books. I envisioned a library of paintings, but never had the rescources t ...
W4258
24.05.2011
A Dead Voice from a Lost Age - John Patrick Egan
WWW
So, the work I would like to submit is (was?) intended to bear the moniker (working title) A Dead Voice from a Lost Age. The concept for the piece derived, initially, from my training as a musician, specifically my specialisation in the baroque and transi ...
So, the work I would like to submit is (was?) intended to bear the moniker (working title) A Dead Voice from a Lost Age. The concept for the piece derived, initially, from my training as a musician, specifically my specialisation in the baroque and transi ...
W3886
19.05.2011
Flags - Luciana Maiorana
WWW
In “Flags,” I would use color and geometry to deconstruct and then reassemble, in multiple permutations, the world’s national flags. I would employ multiple media (paper, fabric, encaustic, photography, video, . . . ) to emphasize the “variety” ...
In “Flags,” I would use color and geometry to deconstruct and then reassemble, in multiple permutations, the world’s national flags. I would employ multiple media (paper, fabric, encaustic, photography, video, . . . ) to emphasize the “variety” ...
W4825
07.08.2012
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice - Andrea Geyer
WWW
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
W3674
15.05.2011
The Warhol Machine - Johanna Thompson
WWW
The Warhol Machine is a mechanism that will bring 15 minutes of fame to everyone. It is an installation in Times Square, New York City, consisting of a video camera in a booth, a visitor inside the booth and in front of the camera and the already installe ...
The Warhol Machine is a mechanism that will bring 15 minutes of fame to everyone. It is an installation in Times Square, New York City, consisting of a video camera in a booth, a visitor inside the booth and in front of the camera and the already installe ...
W4621
25.05.2011
Projekt Atlantik - Maria Dundakova
WWW
Projekt Atlantik- Song, Ebbe und Flut Rhytmen Klangrealisation und Wirkung Vorbereitung: Dokumentare Atlantikwellenklang Materialausarbeitung Während 30 Tagen am Morgen vor Sonnenaufgang habe ich Ebbe und Flut Wellengeräusche an der Brasilianischen Küs ...
Projekt Atlantik- Song, Ebbe und Flut Rhytmen Klangrealisation und Wirkung Vorbereitung: Dokumentare Atlantikwellenklang Materialausarbeitung Während 30 Tagen am Morgen vor Sonnenaufgang habe ich Ebbe und Flut Wellengeräusche an der Brasilianischen Küs ...
W4166
24.05.2011
heaven and hell box - jonathan paul gillette
WWW
heaven and hell box the heaven and hell box is a three chamber room. the viewer enters the front space through a centered pvc curtain and then chooses to enter the right or left space via two side orientated pvc curtains. the left space is climate cont ...
heaven and hell box the heaven and hell box is a three chamber room. the viewer enters the front space through a centered pvc curtain and then chooses to enter the right or left space via two side orientated pvc curtains. the left space is climate cont ...
W4035
22.05.2011
Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 - Stefan Nikolaev
WWW
Stefan Nikolaev Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 “All aboard. The Gravy Plane is an artwork by Stefan Nikolaev that offers you the one and only chance to take a “smokers only” cross-Atlantic flight. ...
Stefan Nikolaev Riding The Gravy Plane 2005 “All aboard. The Gravy Plane is an artwork by Stefan Nikolaev that offers you the one and only chance to take a “smokers only” cross-Atlantic flight. ...
W3630
14.05.2011
an excerpt from one of my abandoned writing projects  - Chad Dawkins
WWW
But everything is flawed. Everything is dirty, broken, missing pieces, damaged, too cold or hot, flimsy, smells, quits working. Everything produces an unpleasant sound. Nothing is as powerful as the possibility of impending public humiliation. It really b ...
But everything is flawed. Everything is dirty, broken, missing pieces, damaged, too cold or hot, flimsy, smells, quits working. Everything produces an unpleasant sound. Nothing is as powerful as the possibility of impending public humiliation. It really b ...
W11063
24.06.2016
Julian Assange's Mobile Balcony Installation at 1:1 - Muhammad Shamin Sahrum
WWW
Proposal extending from Master's thesis work in architecture, titled "The Diplomatic Envelope". A research into the various case studies within embassies where overlaps of legal principles with the physical and digital territories occur. This gray area em ...
Proposal extending from Master's thesis work in architecture, titled "The Diplomatic Envelope". A research into the various case studies within embassies where overlaps of legal principles with the physical and digital territories occur. This gray area em ...
U9248
14.02.1997
Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson
Unbuilt Roads
Dear Hans-Ulrich Obrist, I'm sending some images to you on disk. There are four stills of a theater set. (et 1 and et 2 on the first disk and et 3 and et5 on the second disk.) These are printable using Photoshop 3.0. Here is the text you asked for ...
Dear Hans-Ulrich Obrist, I'm sending some images to you on disk. There are four stills of a theater set. (et 1 and et 2 on the first disk and et 3 and et5 on the second disk.) These are printable using Photoshop 3.0. Here is the text you asked for ...
W4181
24.05.2011
Gallery Tour - Claudia Ulisses
WWW
Project: Gallery Tour Year: 2001 Artist: Claudia Ulisses Gallery Tour is a journey into the empty interior of some art galleries or museums (art spaces), where the visitor is literally transported by a chair that moves through the space. The visit ...
Project: Gallery Tour Year: 2001 Artist: Claudia Ulisses Gallery Tour is a journey into the empty interior of some art galleries or museums (art spaces), where the visitor is literally transported by a chair that moves through the space. The visit ...
W10630
09.07.2014
Stitch In Time - Joel Leibowitz
WWW
20 Foot High x 12 foot circumference Spool of Thread; 3" foam core thread / yellow/ aluminum spool . The large spool of thread is positioned next to Cleopatra's "Needle" ( obelisk ) in Central Park , NYC. Location behind Metropolitan Museum of Art. ...
20 Foot High x 12 foot circumference Spool of Thread; 3" foam core thread / yellow/ aluminum spool . The large spool of thread is positioned next to Cleopatra's "Needle" ( obelisk ) in Central Park , NYC. Location behind Metropolitan Museum of Art. ...
W4955
20.08.2012
Museum of Rene's Contemptorary Art - Rene Price
WWW
MORCA Museum of Rene’s Contemporary Art Rene has produced too much Artstuff. He likes all of it and he has been able to afford to keep it all in storage. His website (www.reneprice.ca) presents 1000 of his more than 2000 3 ...
MORCA Museum of Rene’s Contemporary Art Rene has produced too much Artstuff. He likes all of it and he has been able to afford to keep it all in storage. His website (www.reneprice.ca) presents 1000 of his more than 2000 3 ...
W4623
25.05.2011
Economic Express or Mobility Express Project  - reaction-lalou
WWW
Economic Express or Mobility Express Project Form: Cross-discipline Mediums: Sculpture, Performance, Installations, Film Artist-Author: reaction-lalou Exhibited: Technopolis-Industrial Museum of Athens-Greece-6th Video Art Festival 2010 Maktab Anbar Mus ...
Economic Express or Mobility Express Project Form: Cross-discipline Mediums: Sculpture, Performance, Installations, Film Artist-Author: reaction-lalou Exhibited: Technopolis-Industrial Museum of Athens-Greece-6th Video Art Festival 2010 Maktab Anbar Mus ...
W3807
18.05.2011
The Ethereal Battle - David Normal
WWW
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
W4328
24.05.2011
Brian McLendon
WWW
The project is an installation that can only be experienced via physical movement through the work. I would create an environment channeling the movement of observers through the fair into an unavoidable act of participation, altering its spaces into ...
The project is an installation that can only be experienced via physical movement through the work. I would create an environment channeling the movement of observers through the fair into an unavoidable act of participation, altering its spaces into ...
W4099
23.05.2011
Tyburn 
Tree
 - Rick Buckley
WWW
‘Tyburn Tree’ is a site‐specific (powder coated) steel structure. Elevated upon three vertical beams, measuring approx 6 metres in height. To stand at the original site of the infamous historical location for state executions, situated on a partiall ...
‘Tyburn Tree’ is a site‐specific (powder coated) steel structure. Elevated upon three vertical beams, measuring approx 6 metres in height. To stand at the original site of the infamous historical location for state executions, situated on a partiall ...
W5269
13.10.2012
The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique - Nu'a Bön
WWW
"The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique". Bikiki Atoll 1946 Thangka numérique (2009); Aotearoa 2009 Thangka numérique (2009). Visual ruminations on the agency and agendas of critical thinking in art, buddhist teachings, and digital technology ...
"The Politics of the Divine–Thangka numérique". Bikiki Atoll 1946 Thangka numérique (2009); Aotearoa 2009 Thangka numérique (2009). Visual ruminations on the agency and agendas of critical thinking in art, buddhist teachings, and digital technology ...
W5091
10.09.2012
Hortus d'Epe - Harald Schole
WWW
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...
W4172
24.05.2011
The Neverending Fence - Tom Butler
WWW
Statement for The Agency Of Unrealized Projects I use found postcards as miniature environments for sinister and fantastical scenarios. These proposals are not intended be realized and are also distanced from us by the age of the postcard, the only pl ...
Statement for The Agency Of Unrealized Projects I use found postcards as miniature environments for sinister and fantastical scenarios. These proposals are not intended be realized and are also distanced from us by the age of the postcard, the only pl ...
W3491
11.05.2011
Urban Game: “Dharma the Digital Dog” - Andreas Maria Jacobs
WWW
Urban Game: “Dharma the Digital Dog” by Andreas Maria Jacobs Live video-projection game for e-mail, building & audience Jump, Move, Raise, Dog, Hoola Hoop, Girl E-Mail:puppet@burgerwaanzin.nl, Web: http://burgerwaanzin.nl/puppet The game p ...
Urban Game: “Dharma the Digital Dog” by Andreas Maria Jacobs Live video-projection game for e-mail, building & audience Jump, Move, Raise, Dog, Hoola Hoop, Girl E-Mail:puppet@burgerwaanzin.nl, Web: http://burgerwaanzin.nl/puppet The game p ...
W3648
15.05.2011
Lima 2427 - Camila Bustamante
WWW
Imaginative launch campaign for the Lima Urban Train (Peru) The works for the urban train of Lima (Peru) began in the middle ’80’s and were never completed due to the economic crisis and the incompetence of some governors. ...
Imaginative launch campaign for the Lima Urban Train (Peru) The works for the urban train of Lima (Peru) began in the middle ’80’s and were never completed due to the economic crisis and the incompetence of some governors. ...
W3710
17.05.2011
New business complex for The public company Electro-Slovenija - ARB, Slovenia
WWW
The project was presented at a competition for a new business complex for The public company Electro-Slovenija. The project is characterized by thin folded blades, containing open-volume, offices, making a perfect ground for photovoltaic. ...
The project was presented at a competition for a new business complex for The public company Electro-Slovenija. The project is characterized by thin folded blades, containing open-volume, offices, making a perfect ground for photovoltaic. ...