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.

Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken

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

Making for Art - 100 Unsucceeded Presentation - 1995, 1996,  - Yutaka Sone

Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson

Ceinture - Huang Ping Yong

Unrealized Projects - Jonas Meckas

Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Sol Lewitt

Relatum (Iron Plate and Stone) - Lee Ufan

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5153
24.09.2012
Internal Painting Valuable gift - James Eisen
WWW
Among my recent Project Internal Painting Valuable gift, I examined forms of knowledge and Power, the transference of idea to object from one work to another. These works sit within a wider strategy of enacting associative thought into form. More directly ...
Among my recent Project Internal Painting Valuable gift, I examined forms of knowledge and Power, the transference of idea to object from one work to another. These works sit within a wider strategy of enacting associative thought into form. More directly ...
W5261
12.10.2012
Memory Confetti - Stephen j Shanabrook / Veronika Georgieva
WWW
STEPHEN j SHANABROOK / VERONIKA GEORGIEVA MEMORY CONFETTI The project MEMORY CONFETTI consists of two parts: through various social network sites we will introduce the project and request the public’s time based participation in sending us imag ...
STEPHEN j SHANABROOK / VERONIKA GEORGIEVA MEMORY CONFETTI The project MEMORY CONFETTI consists of two parts: through various social network sites we will introduce the project and request the public’s time based participation in sending us imag ...
W5074
05.09.2012
fading memory  - Raymonde Van Santen
WWW
Raymonde van Santen rvansanten@verizon.net Unrealized Projects fading memory Part A and B fit in my ongoing exploration of the cycles of decay and renewal. They will visualize how the passage of time affects memory (Part A), and how memories n ...
Raymonde van Santen rvansanten@verizon.net Unrealized Projects fading memory Part A and B fit in my ongoing exploration of the cycles of decay and renewal. They will visualize how the passage of time affects memory (Part A), and how memories n ...
W5037
01.09.2012
Cultivating the Field of the Absurd - Barbara Nemitz
WWW
Title: " Cultivating the Field of the Absurd" The work is to be made in the landscape. In an open part with a large plain - some shrubberies and trees may be around - an extensive embroidery is to be seen on the ground. It is made out of silky shimmer ...
Title: " Cultivating the Field of the Absurd" The work is to be made in the landscape. In an open part with a large plain - some shrubberies and trees may be around - an extensive embroidery is to be seen on the ground. It is made out of silky shimmer ...
W3827
19.05.2011
Ephemeral - Tomasz Domanski
WWW
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
W4397
25.05.2011
Flâneur - konstantinos-antonios goutos / the[video]Flâneu®
WWW
PROJECT [video]Flâneu® The artist walks like a „Flâneur“ through the city. He does not have a turtle with him (as the original Parisian Flâneur of the 1830‘s used to); later, he does not write stories (as Edgar Allan Poe or Hans Christian Ande ...
PROJECT [video]Flâneu® The artist walks like a „Flâneur“ through the city. He does not have a turtle with him (as the original Parisian Flâneur of the 1830‘s used to); later, he does not write stories (as Edgar Allan Poe or Hans Christian Ande ...
W4998
30.08.2012
Lesley Scott Reid
WWW
a project to create images - icons - that represent choices open to a person not get HIV. Each image was to be inserted in one arm bandit machine and be photographed - each line of 4 images coming up being a winner. This work is in archive - if it i ...
a project to create images - icons - that represent choices open to a person not get HIV. Each image was to be inserted in one arm bandit machine and be photographed - each line of 4 images coming up being a winner. This work is in archive - if it i ...
W4059
23.05.2011
The king of the changing face - Transvestites in China - Andreas Guibert
WWW
This photo installation is concern with the materialization of Chinese trans-sexuality during the early twenty first century; a trans-sexuality that acts upon a semiotic deconstruction of the body as a signifier, thus becoming the agent of processes of ge ...
This photo installation is concern with the materialization of Chinese trans-sexuality during the early twenty first century; a trans-sexuality that acts upon a semiotic deconstruction of the body as a signifier, thus becoming the agent of processes of ge ...
W4123
23.05.2011
MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND  - Deborah A Bouchette
WWW
MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND 1 MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND Deborah A. Bouchette 05 May 2009 MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND 2 What do we have, but memory? Even the “present” is consumed immediately, and our very recognition of “now” makes ...
MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND 1 MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND Deborah A. Bouchette 05 May 2009 MEMORY UPGRADE FOR ATTU ISLAND 2 What do we have, but memory? Even the “present” is consumed immediately, and our very recognition of “now” makes ...
W3852
19.05.2011
WILE.E.ARTIST  - Nicole Mortiboys
WWW
Two artists Chris Hodson and Nicole Mortiboys, meet every Wednesday over a period of three years, to make plans and talk about Art. They name themselves WILE.E.ARTIST (since renamed TNT) based around the cartoon character Wile.E.Coyote.They work together ...
Two artists Chris Hodson and Nicole Mortiboys, meet every Wednesday over a period of three years, to make plans and talk about Art. They name themselves WILE.E.ARTIST (since renamed TNT) based around the cartoon character Wile.E.Coyote.They work together ...
W4730
26.05.2011
Nosferatu in Shadowform - Jade Juliana Boyd
WWW
Jade Boyd ‘Nosferatu in Shadowform’ In 2006 I came to the idea of creating a holographic projection, a looping figure of Nosferatu, after researching into the use of the supernatural in the landscape in film, and the ephemerality of the film mediu ...
Jade Boyd ‘Nosferatu in Shadowform’ In 2006 I came to the idea of creating a holographic projection, a looping figure of Nosferatu, after researching into the use of the supernatural in the landscape in film, and the ephemerality of the film mediu ...
W3895
20.05.2011
Editorial Sculpture: Divina Commedia  - Javier Toro Blum
WWW
The Divina Commedia triptych is a sculpture project, consisting in three ovoid metal cast pieces. Each piece has engraved in low relief (1.5mm) one part of the Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. With a 2.5mm typography ev ...
The Divina Commedia triptych is a sculpture project, consisting in three ovoid metal cast pieces. Each piece has engraved in low relief (1.5mm) one part of the Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. With a 2.5mm typography ev ...
W5052
03.09.2012
Hall of Residence for the UPV - Taller Basico de Arquitectura [TBA]
WWW
Hall of Residence for the UPV (2011) AIR STRATA This metal cloud made from three air strata rises on its own footprint. The interior is opened into two equal halves, generating a large interior street opened to the sky and to the ground plane, which ...
Hall of Residence for the UPV (2011) AIR STRATA This metal cloud made from three air strata rises on its own footprint. The interior is opened into two equal halves, generating a large interior street opened to the sky and to the ground plane, which ...
W3647
15.05.2011
World Atlas - ANNA LASCARI
WWW
“World Atlas” is a visual depiction of worldwide hunger. It is a monument to all the people whose lives are in stake due to hunger, whether it is a child that dies every five seconds from hunger related causes, or those in the West who search dumpster ...
“World Atlas” is a visual depiction of worldwide hunger. It is a monument to all the people whose lives are in stake due to hunger, whether it is a child that dies every five seconds from hunger related causes, or those in the West who search dumpster ...
W5315
18.10.2012
Garet Martin
WWW
The attached text document explains a wall sculpture that, due to lack of funding, I was not able to complete. -- My work is oftentimes inspired by objects, which I have encountered simply by living my life; trash on the sidewalk, patterns on the t- ...
The attached text document explains a wall sculpture that, due to lack of funding, I was not able to complete. -- My work is oftentimes inspired by objects, which I have encountered simply by living my life; trash on the sidewalk, patterns on the t- ...
W4322
24.05.2011
Laboratory for Perfecting Fear - Transidency
WWW
Laboratory for Perfecting Fear (working title) Proposal for the II Moscow International Biennale for Young Art Contents Proposal Proposed Installation Background Theory Possible problems and Possible Solutions Methodology Locations Support About Trans ...
Laboratory for Perfecting Fear (working title) Proposal for the II Moscow International Biennale for Young Art Contents Proposal Proposed Installation Background Theory Possible problems and Possible Solutions Methodology Locations Support About Trans ...
U10007
01.09.1995
Merci, Thank you, Danke: Les 2 sujets  - Thomas Hirschorn
Unbuilt Roads
Pour les affichés 4x3 devant l'immeuble Valois/Saint-Honoré je propose deux sujets issus de la serie "merci, Thank you, Danke". Ces sujets sont deux collages sur carton d'un format assez petit (eviron 20x40 pour l'un et 20x40 pour l'autre) Cette serie j ...
Pour les affichés 4x3 devant l'immeuble Valois/Saint-Honoré je propose deux sujets issus de la serie "merci, Thank you, Danke". Ces sujets sont deux collages sur carton d'un format assez petit (eviron 20x40 pour l'un et 20x40 pour l'autre) Cette serie j ...
W4061
23.05.2011
andreas guibert
WWW
The King of the changing faces Photo installation ...
The King of the changing faces Photo installation ...
W4403
25.05.2011
Landscape Follies - Eleanna Horiti
WWW
Landscape Follies A series that involves the creation of ‘new’ unnatural imaginary landscapes through a series of actions, such as excavations, exposure of strata and the creation of fake elements using natural materials. ...
Landscape Follies A series that involves the creation of ‘new’ unnatural imaginary landscapes through a series of actions, such as excavations, exposure of strata and the creation of fake elements using natural materials. ...
W4267
24.05.2011
“Truth Highway” - Jiivanii RedMarks
WWW
“Truth Highway” The Abstract Artist: Jiivanii RedMarks © 2007 Location: Jamaica “Truth Highway” is an Outdoor Sculpture represented by a transparent glass stairway, standing at about twenty-five meters off the ground or infinity. This escalato ...
“Truth Highway” The Abstract Artist: Jiivanii RedMarks © 2007 Location: Jamaica “Truth Highway” is an Outdoor Sculpture represented by a transparent glass stairway, standing at about twenty-five meters off the ground or infinity. This escalato ...
W4390
25.05.2011
Isabelle Desjeux
WWW
The project was to collect failed projects from scientists. It consisted of me interviewing scientists about anything that hadn't worked or couldn't get published, couldn't get used... I thought I would make a book from each of the scientists' story... ...
The project was to collect failed projects from scientists. It consisted of me interviewing scientists about anything that hadn't worked or couldn't get published, couldn't get used... I thought I would make a book from each of the scientists' story... ...
W3939
20.05.2011
R. Marcos Mota
WWW
DESCRIPTION The project consists of built inside the Civic Centre Sant Andreu a toilet for the disabled who do not meet standards of accessibility measures.

 It will build a separate room of existing toilets within the Civic Center that the dynamics ...
DESCRIPTION The project consists of built inside the Civic Centre Sant Andreu a toilet for the disabled who do not meet standards of accessibility measures.

 It will build a separate room of existing toilets within the Civic Center that the dynamics ...
W4079
23.05.2011
O.K & K.O Bank - O.K & K.O Bank
WWW
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
W3830
19.05.2011
Michael Tsegaye
WWW
This images are of grave stones.In Ethiopia when a person dies the relatives places a photograph into the tomb stone and inscribes a short history of the deceased. Inspired by Ethiopian poet and painter Gebrekirstos Desta. ...
This images are of grave stones.In Ethiopia when a person dies the relatives places a photograph into the tomb stone and inscribes a short history of the deceased. Inspired by Ethiopian poet and painter Gebrekirstos Desta. ...
W5030
31.08.2012
Spectral Horse - Mags Harries & Lajos Heder
WWW
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
Mags Harries & Lajos Héder Spectral Horse Location: Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor, MA (Proposal 2006) Size: 400’ x 250’ Materials: Lighting and light reflective materials Description: Spectacle Island lies in a very prominent position in Bost ...
W4957
20.08.2012
Pelican Bay maximum-security glass prison - Eugene Soler
WWW
California’s Pelican Bay maximum security prison is more than 150% over capacity with a high number of inmates re-offending after released. Located within a nearby clearing of forest, the proposal is to create a facility for inmate’s rehabilitation by ...
California’s Pelican Bay maximum security prison is more than 150% over capacity with a high number of inmates re-offending after released. Located within a nearby clearing of forest, the proposal is to create a facility for inmate’s rehabilitation by ...