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.

PROPOSALl + VOORSTEL - Guillame Bijl

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

<A Public Misery Message> - Critical Art Ensemble

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

The insurer - Fabrice Hybert

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

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

Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George

Monumento all'agricoltura 1969-70 - Alighiero Boetti

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4169
24.05.2011
Apocalypse Wave  - Mitya Nesterov & Lera Nibiru
WWW
Apocalypse Wave On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation was horrible, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake, the Haitian government reported that an estimated ...
Apocalypse Wave On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation was horrible, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake, the Haitian government reported that an estimated ...
W5378
19.10.2012
Ocean Waves in the Desert Sky - Dena Peake
WWW
Set in a desert-like environment, the piece is a wind-activated, large scale kinetic sculpture that uses ocean imagery and sound. Windcatchers that resemble ocean waves are suspended above a rooftop to rotate and power the sound of ocean waves at street l ...
Set in a desert-like environment, the piece is a wind-activated, large scale kinetic sculpture that uses ocean imagery and sound. Windcatchers that resemble ocean waves are suspended above a rooftop to rotate and power the sound of ocean waves at street l ...
W3748
18.05.2011
SPOT ON - John Gayer
WWW
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
W3925
20.05.2011
Proposal for Witches Memorial in Salem MA - Ed Levine
WWW
Proposal for Witches Memorial in Salem MA Giving voice to Witches Each of the 17 sculptural element is a musical instrument. Compressed air is cycled randomly through the internal pipe in each element. Consequently the sound will project around the si ...
Proposal for Witches Memorial in Salem MA Giving voice to Witches Each of the 17 sculptural element is a musical instrument. Compressed air is cycled randomly through the internal pipe in each element. Consequently the sound will project around the si ...
W10322
01.01.2009
The Untouchable  - John Xaviers
WWW
Proposal submitted by John Xaviers for City as Studio to SARAI, CSDS In the form of a graphic novel/essay, I would like to explore Delhi-Gurgaon bus journey. These buses which are always crowded become the space and occasion where physical touch is per ...
Proposal submitted by John Xaviers for City as Studio to SARAI, CSDS In the form of a graphic novel/essay, I would like to explore Delhi-Gurgaon bus journey. These buses which are always crowded become the space and occasion where physical touch is per ...
W4280
24.05.2011
Vision and Vernacular: Eight African American Artists in Venice - Martha Henry
WWW
American Folk Art Museum Presents Vision and Vernacular: Eight African American Artists in Venice Four Self-Taught Visionaries: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson American culture, values and spirituality c ...
American Folk Art Museum Presents Vision and Vernacular: Eight African American Artists in Venice Four Self-Taught Visionaries: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson American culture, values and spirituality c ...
U9816
05.02.1990
The pyramids...to be seen to be believed - Jonathan Monk
Unbuilt Roads
Glasgow 1990 Cultural Capital of Europe 5 February 1990 Mr Jonathan Monk 22 Cecil Street Hillhead Glasgow G12 8RH Dear Jonathan Monk Thank you very much for your exciting letter concerning your proposed project for this year namely ...
Glasgow 1990 Cultural Capital of Europe 5 February 1990 Mr Jonathan Monk 22 Cecil Street Hillhead Glasgow G12 8RH Dear Jonathan Monk Thank you very much for your exciting letter concerning your proposed project for this year namely ...
W4422
25.05.2011
Drew Denny
WWW
After being diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor, I designed this architectural rendering for my brain as a house. I would construct an installation of my Brain House so that I might lead audiences through it as I perform my memories, fantasies, dreams ...
After being diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor, I designed this architectural rendering for my brain as a house. I would construct an installation of my Brain House so that I might lead audiences through it as I perform my memories, fantasies, dreams ...
W5235
09.10.2012
Two Years’ Untouched Garden  - WOOLOO
WWW
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
Two Years’ Untouched Garden 6th Momentum Biennial Moss, Norway (2011) Two Years’ Untouched Garden was Wooloo’s proposed work for the 6th Momentum Biennial. The work was to be a sculptural intervention among the gardens and grounds of the historical ...
W4423
25.05.2011
Suspended in the Void  - Juan G. Caicedo D.
WWW
Suspended in the Void In the courtyard of the building, on the corner between the northern and eastern façades there is a balcony. In front of it a large object is suspended, it is not a magical event, it does not float miraculously: it hangs from a re ...
Suspended in the Void In the courtyard of the building, on the corner between the northern and eastern façades there is a balcony. In front of it a large object is suspended, it is not a magical event, it does not float miraculously: it hangs from a re ...
W4723
26.05.2011
DIY Art Collecting - Broc Blegen
WWW
DIY Art Collecting Since last spring I’ve been developing a curatorial/collecting practice to develop a ‘Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Art Collection.’ I’ve always wanted to collect and live with really great art, but I could never afford to purchase ...
DIY Art Collecting Since last spring I’ve been developing a curatorial/collecting practice to develop a ‘Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Art Collection.’ I’ve always wanted to collect and live with really great art, but I could never afford to purchase ...
W5453
20.10.2012
ñaña - Pablo David Rojas Mencias
WWW
Pablo David Rojas Mencias Kohlfurterstrasse 1, Berlin 10999 dadafoto@gmail.com Project Name: “ñaña” This project couldn’t be finished due to the fact that “ñaña” has passed away. In the native american language, quechua, “ñañaâ ...
Pablo David Rojas Mencias Kohlfurterstrasse 1, Berlin 10999 dadafoto@gmail.com Project Name: “ñaña” This project couldn’t be finished due to the fact that “ñaña” has passed away. In the native american language, quechua, “ñañaâ ...
W4713
26.05.2011
CHROMA - spmb [Eduardo Aquino & Karen Shanski]
WWW
CHROMA [2011] was a proposal by spmb for a permanent public art project for the Mount Dennis Neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is derived from the neighbourhood’s desire to signify one entrance into Mount Dennis through art, more specifically marking ...
CHROMA [2011] was a proposal by spmb for a permanent public art project for the Mount Dennis Neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is derived from the neighbourhood’s desire to signify one entrance into Mount Dennis through art, more specifically marking ...
W4707
26.05.2011
Dear Earth - Lisa Hein and Robert Seng
WWW
DEAR EARTH Proposal for a Construction Fence 2007 DEAR is a salutation to strangers and intimates alike. The word began all written communication in English at one time. Now that friendly discourse travels electronically, the word DEAR is reserved ...
DEAR EARTH Proposal for a Construction Fence 2007 DEAR is a salutation to strangers and intimates alike. The word began all written communication in English at one time. Now that friendly discourse travels electronically, the word DEAR is reserved ...
D10808
01.01.2003
The House of Language - Bethan Huws
DAAD
To print this phrase on a relatively large number of (bird) nest boxes – the German concrete cylinder type which are not analogous to human houses, unlike their French and British counterparts – and then to install these in an area of a forest that do ...
To print this phrase on a relatively large number of (bird) nest boxes – the German concrete cylinder type which are not analogous to human houses, unlike their French and British counterparts – and then to install these in an area of a forest that do ...
W4601
25.05.2011
180˚ - Magdalen Chua
WWW
In May 2010, we submitted a proposal for the use of TriSpace, a triangular-shaped gallery space at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. TriSpace was, in the words of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, intended to be ...
In May 2010, we submitted a proposal for the use of TriSpace, a triangular-shaped gallery space at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. TriSpace was, in the words of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, intended to be ...
W4814
07.08.2012
Peace Team - Adam Uriel Ruff
WWW
W4922
18.08.2012
sin∞fin – The Logbook and Left Over’s Installation "An Itinerary on the Boarders of our Bodies" - VestAndPage (Verena Stenke & Andrea Pagnes)
WWW
The idea of making a Logbook that digs into the core of the poiesis of VestAndPage’s recently edited movie trilogy sin∞fin - The Movie (hybrid opera combining Performance art and filmmaking), as cornerstone of an exhibition installation of various ori ...
The idea of making a Logbook that digs into the core of the poiesis of VestAndPage’s recently edited movie trilogy sin∞fin - The Movie (hybrid opera combining Performance art and filmmaking), as cornerstone of an exhibition installation of various ori ...
W3586
13.05.2011
A Starry Minute, 2007 - Katja Aglert
WWW
A Starry Minute proposes to collaborate with building owners in Times Square to turn off all of the commercial signage in the area (41 St. - 50 St. between Broadway and 7th Ave) simultaneously for one minute. A Starry Minute’s specific duration of 60 se ...
A Starry Minute proposes to collaborate with building owners in Times Square to turn off all of the commercial signage in the area (41 St. - 50 St. between Broadway and 7th Ave) simultaneously for one minute. A Starry Minute’s specific duration of 60 se ...
W3519
11.05.2011
Spartak Dulic
WWW
Cocaine sculpture text- on the back of the card ...
Cocaine sculpture text- on the back of the card ...
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 ...
W5109
15.09.2012
Cut - Perce Jerrom
WWW
Perce Jerrom 8 Kashmir House, 66 Gibbon Road, SE15 3XE percejerrom@gmail.com 07760392651 www.percejerrom.com My unrealized project would be entitled “Cut” the piece would be a single channel video installation of ...
Perce Jerrom 8 Kashmir House, 66 Gibbon Road, SE15 3XE percejerrom@gmail.com 07760392651 www.percejerrom.com My unrealized project would be entitled “Cut” the piece would be a single channel video installation of ...
W5432
20.10.2012
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) - Tamar Lederberg
WWW
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) Art constitutes a tool for contending with difficult psychological situations. A situation of loss and pain generates creative forces. An illness triggered fervent creativity in my mother. The trauma following her il ...
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) Art constitutes a tool for contending with difficult psychological situations. A situation of loss and pain generates creative forces. An illness triggered fervent creativity in my mother. The trauma following her il ...
W5471
21.10.2012
La Gioconda Project - Gabor Ösz
WWW
Introduction A few years ago, when I first visited the Louvre, I was surprised to see that the signposts giving directions for the painting La Gioconda already started at the gates. As I was to learn later, there exists a form of cultural pilgrimage t ...
Introduction A few years ago, when I first visited the Louvre, I was surprised to see that the signposts giving directions for the painting La Gioconda already started at the gates. As I was to learn later, there exists a form of cultural pilgrimage t ...
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 ...
W3513
11.05.2011
“Bus Stop” by Mira Hnatyshyn - Mira Hnatyshyn
WWW
“Bus Stop” is a moveable painting based on an image of local commuters waiting for their bus ride. “Bus Stop” explores the cultural significance that public transportation plays in society. As a physical object, t ...
“Bus Stop” is a moveable painting based on an image of local commuters waiting for their bus ride. “Bus Stop” explores the cultural significance that public transportation plays in society. As a physical object, t ...