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.

Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles

Milan House (AC/DC & Joy Division) - Liam Gillick

Temple of the western buddha (1971 Kathmedu) - Herman de Vries

Placid Earth: A Project for the Meeting of Millennia - Cai Guo Quiang

den anonymen Tod ausstellen - Gregor Schneider

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

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

Chen H.V.O + G.T. - Bertrand Lavier

Douglas Gordon - 5 year drive-by; proposal for a public artwork.

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
W4311
24.05.2011
A contemporary folk dance  - Adam Lewin
WWW
A contemporary folk dance with mobility scooters. It has been a long tog time dream of mine to do a choreographed performance of the handicapped utilizing mobility scooters whilst filming it overhead in the style of a Busby Berkeley film. ...
A contemporary folk dance with mobility scooters. It has been a long tog time dream of mine to do a choreographed performance of the handicapped utilizing mobility scooters whilst filming it overhead in the style of a Busby Berkeley film. ...
W4205
24.05.2011
Dublin girl sells soul for drugs  - Catherine Harty
WWW
One of my many unrealized projects A number of years ago I saw a headline on the front of an evening paper. It read ‘Dublin girl sells soul for drugs’. Its a phrase which stayed with me, it generated an image in my mind of a track- suit glad young ...
One of my many unrealized projects A number of years ago I saw a headline on the front of an evening paper. It read ‘Dublin girl sells soul for drugs’. Its a phrase which stayed with me, it generated an image in my mind of a track- suit glad young ...
W3909
20.05.2011
Unrealised proposal for Saatchi New Sensations, 2009 - Petra Swais and Najda El-Amriti
WWW
Having worked for three years alongside one another, but never producing work collaboratively, we have come to realise the strong connection between our individual practices. The most prominent link between our works is the notion of manipulation. By mani ...
Having worked for three years alongside one another, but never producing work collaboratively, we have come to realise the strong connection between our individual practices. The most prominent link between our works is the notion of manipulation. By mani ...
W4115
23.05.2011
Tropical Grotesque - Lara Stein Pardo
WWW
Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. Contact: Jennifer Tisthammer Artist: Lara Stein Pardo Project Summary Funding from the Harpo Foundation will be used to support an artist residency at the Deering Estate and the production of a new body of work by artist ...
Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. Contact: Jennifer Tisthammer Artist: Lara Stein Pardo Project Summary Funding from the Harpo Foundation will be used to support an artist residency at the Deering Estate and the production of a new body of work by artist ...
W3694
16.05.2011
Doppler Symphony - leo fitzmaurice
WWW
Proposal The proposal is to overlay two Doppler Effect * phenomena (change in pitch and volume) onto a piece of music. Process Start with a multi-track recording of a piece of music (one track per instrument) Split each track of the recording ...
Proposal The proposal is to overlay two Doppler Effect * phenomena (change in pitch and volume) onto a piece of music. Process Start with a multi-track recording of a piece of music (one track per instrument) Split each track of the recording ...
W4534
25.05.2011
KOWTOW - ONE CHINA ONLY -- A LONELY EMPEROR - Vincent J.F. HUANG
WWW
KOWTOW ONE CHINA ONLY -- A LONELY EMPEROR VINCENT J.F. HUANG When China became the world’s second best economic entity, and when financial crisis strongly wounded every other nation’s economy, China’s emergence seemed to turn it into a global p ...
KOWTOW ONE CHINA ONLY -- A LONELY EMPEROR VINCENT J.F. HUANG When China became the world’s second best economic entity, and when financial crisis strongly wounded every other nation’s economy, China’s emergence seemed to turn it into a global p ...
W5384
20.10.2012
The EXTRA MUROS project - Amina Menia
WWW
The EXTRA MUROS project (2005 – ongoing) This project is an ongoing series of urban installations in the city of Algiers where I revisit legendary places, landmark venues, urban gaps. My interventions crystallize in a space not in an artwork. The ...
The EXTRA MUROS project (2005 – ongoing) This project is an ongoing series of urban installations in the city of Algiers where I revisit legendary places, landmark venues, urban gaps. My interventions crystallize in a space not in an artwork. The ...
W3571
12.05.2011
Guardian Givers - Urban Belina
WWW
The invisible has the same importance as the visible, because the meaning is not in the material, it is in the change. The artwork dissolves its matter and its concept; when revealed it gradually diminishes over a limited time period; leaving behind only ...
The invisible has the same importance as the visible, because the meaning is not in the material, it is in the change. The artwork dissolves its matter and its concept; when revealed it gradually diminishes over a limited time period; leaving behind only ...
W4513
25.05.2011
Viktor Timofeev
WWW
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
W4690
26.05.2011
instant coffee artist collective
WWW
Instant Coffee is a service oriented collective of artists, curator and designers based in Vancouver and Toronto. Its frequent practice is to build architectural installations, which become venues for a series of organized events from formal lectures and ...
Instant Coffee is a service oriented collective of artists, curator and designers based in Vancouver and Toronto. Its frequent practice is to build architectural installations, which become venues for a series of organized events from formal lectures and ...
W4232
24.05.2011
Framing al-Zarqawi - Nicholas Knight
WWW
Nicholas Knight Framing al-Zarqawi, 2006 Mixed media installation, including framed photographs, podium, US and Iraqi flags, rugs, easels, curtain, furniture, etc. Size determined by installation [never realized] In June 2006, US-led forces in Ir ...
Nicholas Knight Framing al-Zarqawi, 2006 Mixed media installation, including framed photographs, podium, US and Iraqi flags, rugs, easels, curtain, furniture, etc. Size determined by installation [never realized] In June 2006, US-led forces in Ir ...
W3501
11.05.2011
The Replacement Weather - Rebecca Hackemann
WWW
The Replacement Weather consists of replacement clouds for replacement weather, consisting of sculptural light installation. In case the real clouds become defunct, obsolete or unusable, I am proposing a quasi spoof proposal format of a light and sculptur ...
The Replacement Weather consists of replacement clouds for replacement weather, consisting of sculptural light installation. In case the real clouds become defunct, obsolete or unusable, I am proposing a quasi spoof proposal format of a light and sculptur ...
W5128
18.09.2012
Berliner Bahnhöfer - Saana Inari
WWW
About the project called 'Berliner Bahnhöfer', in Berlin, 18.09.2012 Saana Inari info@saana-inari.net Moving to Berlin, it is almost impossible to ignore the history of the city. As I am interested on how cities are structured and how people move ...
About the project called 'Berliner Bahnhöfer', in Berlin, 18.09.2012 Saana Inari info@saana-inari.net Moving to Berlin, it is almost impossible to ignore the history of the city. As I am interested on how cities are structured and how people move ...
W5900
18.10.2013
Ice zebra - Matthijs Muller
WWW
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
This ice zebra offers a dry crossing over the river. 2006 ...
W4630
25.05.2011
Newark Orphan Asylum - Ann LePore
WWW
Newark Orphan Asylum is a proposal for public art at NJIT Alumni Center at 323 Marlin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Newark. In conjunction with Do1thing.org, an organization for homeless youth, and/or Heart Gallery of New Jersey (heartgallerynj.org), an organiz ...
Newark Orphan Asylum is a proposal for public art at NJIT Alumni Center at 323 Marlin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Newark. In conjunction with Do1thing.org, an organization for homeless youth, and/or Heart Gallery of New Jersey (heartgallerynj.org), an organiz ...
W4854
08.08.2012
The Green,White and Red light district - Neda Tavallaee
WWW
This work concentrates on the fact that women in Iran are judged and valued by being wifes and mothers.Therefore there is a great ammount of pressure on them to find husbands.This leads to women being showcased for marriage. Proposal Title:The Gree ...
This work concentrates on the fact that women in Iran are judged and valued by being wifes and mothers.Therefore there is a great ammount of pressure on them to find husbands.This leads to women being showcased for marriage. Proposal Title:The Gree ...
W5162
25.09.2012
Heather Lewis
WWW
An installation that mimics the rising and setting of the sun, condensed to perhaps 5 minutes – a lamp moving in a 30 ft arc (15 ft radius). It shows the effects of variable light and therefore shadows, on various objects and situations. ...
An installation that mimics the rising and setting of the sun, condensed to perhaps 5 minutes – a lamp moving in a 30 ft arc (15 ft radius). It shows the effects of variable light and therefore shadows, on various objects and situations. ...
W4180
24.05.2011
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) - Legge Lewis Legge
WWW
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) is a public art and architecture studio based in New York and Texas operated by architect Murray Legge AIA and filmmaker Deborah E. Lewis, both in Austin, and artist Andrea Legge in New York City. Since 2001, LLL has produced a wi ...
Legge Lewis Legge, (LLL) is a public art and architecture studio based in New York and Texas operated by architect Murray Legge AIA and filmmaker Deborah E. Lewis, both in Austin, and artist Andrea Legge in New York City. Since 2001, LLL has produced a wi ...
W3899
20.05.2011
SIN TITULO - Daniela Huerta
WWW
SIN TITULO Nails, wall, dust and red thread. Dimensions variable 2010 This is a project that perhaps was never intended to be realized. It was rather an action and a documentation of it. The beginning and the end is the wall, as it works as a state ...
SIN TITULO Nails, wall, dust and red thread. Dimensions variable 2010 This is a project that perhaps was never intended to be realized. It was rather an action and a documentation of it. The beginning and the end is the wall, as it works as a state ...
W3590
13.05.2011
IN-OUTDOOR PROJECT - Helena Trindade
WWW
Unrealized Public Art Project For images and text please refer to the PDF ...
Unrealized Public Art Project For images and text please refer to the PDF ...
W5435
20.10.2012
ART FOR THE CITY - Matej Metlikovič
WWW
Unrealised projects ART FOR THE CITY, 2008 I'm sending you two photos of the unrealised projects created in 2008 on the theme »Art for the city«. The Society of Ljubljana's visual artists invited artists of Ljubljana to contribute ideas how to make ...
Unrealised projects ART FOR THE CITY, 2008 I'm sending you two photos of the unrealised projects created in 2008 on the theme »Art for the city«. The Society of Ljubljana's visual artists invited artists of Ljubljana to contribute ideas how to make ...
W4435
25.05.2011
"Jello Cube," or "Eat Your Way In": - "Jello Cube," or "Eat Your Way In"
WWW
"Jello Cube," or "Eat Your Way In": A solid block of strawberry Jello will be installed on location at Actual Size Los Angeles. This sculpture/ installation will measure 1,690 cubic feet and will occupy the 2,250 cubic foot gallery with a 1 foot periph ...
"Jello Cube," or "Eat Your Way In": A solid block of strawberry Jello will be installed on location at Actual Size Los Angeles. This sculpture/ installation will measure 1,690 cubic feet and will occupy the 2,250 cubic foot gallery with a 1 foot periph ...
W5049
03.09.2012
Civic Centre in Salburua  - Taller Basico de Arquitectura [TBA]
WWW
Civic Centre in Salburua (2009) The expansion of the city towards the peripheral neighborhoods has occupied the green limits between the inhabited zone and the world. These areas still retain their limit character, and they don’t appear on the city a ...
Civic Centre in Salburua (2009) The expansion of the city towards the peripheral neighborhoods has occupied the green limits between the inhabited zone and the world. These areas still retain their limit character, and they don’t appear on the city a ...
W10895
23.03.2015
The Great Wall Archive - The Bureau for Transgressive Tourism and the Acquisition of its Archives
WWW
The Great Wall Archive presents many potential narratives through the collection and exhibition of an excess of specific and seemingly arbitrary information. Its conception was spurred by a curiosity in the ways we communicate with one another, specifical ...
The Great Wall Archive presents many potential narratives through the collection and exhibition of an excess of specific and seemingly arbitrary information. Its conception was spurred by a curiosity in the ways we communicate with one another, specifical ...
W5903
18.10.2013
Scouts - Matthijs Muller
WWW
Instead of nature represented by some poor trees put in a "pot" between towering office-buildings these trees (in concrete "pots", with dustbins but without benches) scout new territory for future city expansion, just outside but still within sight of the ...
Instead of nature represented by some poor trees put in a "pot" between towering office-buildings these trees (in concrete "pots", with dustbins but without benches) scout new territory for future city expansion, just outside but still within sight of the ...
U9238
01.01.1994
PROJECT FOR A COMMUNITY CENTER, AVENUE DES NARCISSES, CHENOVE - Vito Acconci
Unbuilt Roads
Vito Acconci & Studio (Luis Vera, Jenny Schrider, Charles Doherty; with James Harrison, Jennifer Zackin, Jean Hahn) COMMUNITY CENTER, AVENUE DES NARCISSES, CHENOVE, FRANCE 1994 (To be built, 1998) Grass, trees, concrete, asphalt, steel, glass, lights, ...
Vito Acconci & Studio (Luis Vera, Jenny Schrider, Charles Doherty; with James Harrison, Jennifer Zackin, Jean Hahn) COMMUNITY CENTER, AVENUE DES NARCISSES, CHENOVE, FRANCE 1994 (To be built, 1998) Grass, trees, concrete, asphalt, steel, glass, lights, ...