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

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

"400" - Manfred Pernice

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Mahe Gilles

Unrealized Projects - Jonas Meckas

Chen H.V.O + G.T. - Bertrand Lavier

PROPOSAL FOR SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION, IN PUBLIC - Chris Burden

Engel-Detektor - Jakob Gautel & Jason Karaïndros

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4837
08.08.2012
Museum Eddy Roos - Eddy Roos
WWW
W5392
20.10.2012
Pieterjan Grandry
WWW
Absence stimulates the need for completion and the design of these ideas is what makes the intangible absent concrete. Talking about absence in an urban spot (the incomplete tower of Antwerp’s cathedral), one might think of utopia. Utopia is the non-pla ...
Absence stimulates the need for completion and the design of these ideas is what makes the intangible absent concrete. Talking about absence in an urban spot (the incomplete tower of Antwerp’s cathedral), one might think of utopia. Utopia is the non-pla ...
W3747
18.05.2011
Modes of visibility - Nini Palavandishvili
WWW
Often contemporary exhibition audience complain not to understand art and especially so-called conceptual art. This is specially problematic issue in Georgia, where general audience is not used to contemporary art. They ask themselves about the meaning of ...
Often contemporary exhibition audience complain not to understand art and especially so-called conceptual art. This is specially problematic issue in Georgia, where general audience is not used to contemporary art. They ask themselves about the meaning of ...
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 ...
U9277
01.01.1997
PROPOSALl + VOORSTEL - Guillame Bijl
Unbuilt Roads
An abstract sculpture is standing on an ellipse pavement platform, surrounded by city lights, a city seal and a small flower arrangement. Een buitenaards stalen abstract object (±7m) is midden in de stadskem geland. Er zijn balustraden rond gebouwd. ...
An abstract sculpture is standing on an ellipse pavement platform, surrounded by city lights, a city seal and a small flower arrangement. Een buitenaards stalen abstract object (±7m) is midden in de stadskem geland. Er zijn balustraden rond gebouwd. ...
W5425
20.10.2012
Peace State of aWareness - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
Is peace an exceptional state? Is it fact that war breeds another war? Is war an inevitable destiny of mankind? This is a public art intervention working with and around the war monuments in London within global context of war and peace. Aiming to fr ...
Is peace an exceptional state? Is it fact that war breeds another war? Is war an inevitable destiny of mankind? This is a public art intervention working with and around the war monuments in London within global context of war and peace. Aiming to fr ...
W5272
14.10.2012
The Impossible Collection, Radio-made, and Vertical Reading - Georgi Gospodinov
WWW
Georgi Gospodinov 3 projects The Impossible Collection A gallery. Eight absolutely empty glass cubes (window displays) closed from each side, just with captions beneath, in the following order: apples – shrivel, rot cheese – begins to smell bad clouds ...
Georgi Gospodinov 3 projects The Impossible Collection A gallery. Eight absolutely empty glass cubes (window displays) closed from each side, just with captions beneath, in the following order: apples – shrivel, rot cheese – begins to smell bad clouds ...
W4392
25.05.2011
Dig a hole through the middle of the Earth.  - Gernot Wieland
WWW
Dig a hole through the middle of the Earth. When one jumps into this hole, he or she flies, for example, from Berlin to China. Naturally, with gravity, the speed of travel be- comes enormous. However, as one flies past the centre of the Earth the s ...
Dig a hole through the middle of the Earth. When one jumps into this hole, he or she flies, for example, from Berlin to China. Naturally, with gravity, the speed of travel be- comes enormous. However, as one flies past the centre of the Earth the s ...
W5099
13.09.2012
Seal of Salomon - Copa & Sordes
WWW
another idea for an ornament in public space See PDF ...
another idea for an ornament in public space See PDF ...
W4781
03.06.2011
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism  - Coralina Meyer
WWW
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism A proposal for a fresh urban perspective, the City of Today is a product of the Old Girls Club. It is a series of presentations/drawings/performances/historic fictions where clients are asked to parti ...
City of Today: Development for Feminine Urbanism A proposal for a fresh urban perspective, the City of Today is a product of the Old Girls Club. It is a series of presentations/drawings/performances/historic fictions where clients are asked to parti ...
W4677
26.05.2011
storefront display sale - Jenny Polak
WWW
Alien Vernacular: storefront display sale Jenny Polak, In Practice Proposal for Sculpture Center, 2008 For this project I will to go round stores in different NY neighbourhoods, to collect (document by drawing and photographing) their designs for exte ...
Alien Vernacular: storefront display sale Jenny Polak, In Practice Proposal for Sculpture Center, 2008 For this project I will to go round stores in different NY neighbourhoods, to collect (document by drawing and photographing) their designs for exte ...
W3623
14.05.2011
Structure for Formal and Material Imagination - Scott Massey
WWW
Travel to another dimension has long held our fascination. From Alice’s tentative leap down the rabbit hole, Wade Davis’ experients with the worlds psychotropic flora, or teleporting from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, exploration of alternat ...
Travel to another dimension has long held our fascination. From Alice’s tentative leap down the rabbit hole, Wade Davis’ experients with the worlds psychotropic flora, or teleporting from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, exploration of alternat ...
W3653
15.05.2011
Modular trajectories - Nikolay Zanev
WWW
Modules (15X15X15cm.) polymer, Black board The distinction of homomorphism displayed on lattice of vectors relation between groups, modules generated by one element as identity component for every one. Correspondence one by one in specifics trajectorie ...
Modules (15X15X15cm.) polymer, Black board The distinction of homomorphism displayed on lattice of vectors relation between groups, modules generated by one element as identity component for every one. Correspondence one by one in specifics trajectorie ...
W4994
30.08.2012
democraticrain.net - c a l c (omi - Thomas Scheiderbauer)
WWW
democraticrain.net is based on the idea of giving a “printed voice” to people in a concrete context on the interface between inside > < outside and the individual > < collective. it allows to create and send black and white A4-statements or -images t ...
democraticrain.net is based on the idea of giving a “printed voice” to people in a concrete context on the interface between inside > < outside and the individual > < collective. it allows to create and send black and white A4-statements or -images t ...
W4042
22.05.2011
PROTEIFORM - Nathalie Chikhi
WWW
Proteiform is an uncompleted work started in May 2010. My first intention was to implant multiples yellow pins in big Styrofoam balls to create a 1:1 human scale installation. At the time, my budget to create this new work was somehow limited. I choose ...
Proteiform is an uncompleted work started in May 2010. My first intention was to implant multiples yellow pins in big Styrofoam balls to create a 1:1 human scale installation. At the time, my budget to create this new work was somehow limited. I choose ...
D10807
01.01.2003
ÉCOUTE - Bethan Huws
DAAD
To film a colony of coots on a small, dark pond, recording their daily and seasonal life. The film (image) would put equal emphasis on sound. The only word in the entire film is the title: Écoute (French, “listen”), which forms a homophone wit ...
To film a colony of coots on a small, dark pond, recording their daily and seasonal life. The film (image) would put equal emphasis on sound. The only word in the entire film is the title: Écoute (French, “listen”), which forms a homophone wit ...
W10923
20.06.2015
T.A. 27 Sydney 2000 - Olympia Golden Track - Johannes Angerbauer-Goldhoff
WWW
1997 erfolgte nach einer längeren Planungs- und Verhandlungsphase die Unterzeichung des Finanzierungs- und Realisierung Vertrags für ein Soziales Kunstgroßprojekt zur Eröffnung der Olympischen Spiele in Sydney 2000. Die gesamte Laufbahn des Olympische ...
1997 erfolgte nach einer längeren Planungs- und Verhandlungsphase die Unterzeichung des Finanzierungs- und Realisierung Vertrags für ein Soziales Kunstgroßprojekt zur Eröffnung der Olympischen Spiele in Sydney 2000. Die gesamte Laufbahn des Olympische ...
W4746
26.05.2011
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal - Rafael Schmidt, RAFAA
WWW
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
W10936
22.06.2015
THORAX - Marion Inglessi
WWW
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
W3544
12.05.2011
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR - CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR
WWW
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR Art of recent decades experienced deeply the idea of „Escape from institutions to the streets”. It gave the birth to countless artistic projects in public spaces, interventions and site-specific installations. B ...
CITY IS DEAD / BACK TO INDOOR Art of recent decades experienced deeply the idea of „Escape from institutions to the streets”. It gave the birth to countless artistic projects in public spaces, interventions and site-specific installations. B ...
W3494
11.05.2011
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit - Elvia Pyburn-Wilk
WWW
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit “The street signs for our event are all hand-written. The directions are painted over signs from past events. These handwritten signs are like the bus line that no longer runs.”1 --Phili ...
The New And The Always Same: Toward New Geographies of Habit “The street signs for our event are all hand-written. The directions are painted over signs from past events. These handwritten signs are like the bus line that no longer runs.”1 --Phili ...
W5028
31.08.2012
100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows - János Xantus
WWW
'100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows' A film of characters who are ignorent of being characters of a film. Except one of them... This "l'art pour l'art screenplay" was written by my friend Jean-Daniel Magnin and myself some twenty years ago. 1 ...
'100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows' A film of characters who are ignorent of being characters of a film. Except one of them... This "l'art pour l'art screenplay" was written by my friend Jean-Daniel Magnin and myself some twenty years ago. 1 ...
W4843
08.08.2012
Trein Time Zeit Zug - Manuel Saiz
WWW
Trein Time Zeit Zug a project by Manuel Saiz Train Time Zeit Zug is an art installation involving a circular high speed train in Central Europe, with stretches in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. The train runs along a 2, ...
Trein Time Zeit Zug a project by Manuel Saiz Train Time Zeit Zug is an art installation involving a circular high speed train in Central Europe, with stretches in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. The train runs along a 2, ...
W5151
24.09.2012
Studiolo - Angelika Böck
WWW
STUDIOLO (seit 2006) ist eine als Archiv funktionierende Klanginstallation, die VertreterInnen verschiedener Disziplinen rund um die Thematik Erkenntnis befragt. Auf den ersten Blick gibt es nicht viel zu sehen: ein weißer, mit Texten bedeckter Kubus, de ...
STUDIOLO (seit 2006) ist eine als Archiv funktionierende Klanginstallation, die VertreterInnen verschiedener Disziplinen rund um die Thematik Erkenntnis befragt. Auf den ersten Blick gibt es nicht viel zu sehen: ein weißer, mit Texten bedeckter Kubus, de ...
W4686
26.05.2011
1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. - Linda Stillman
WWW
Unrealized projects 1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. I have been tearing and storing a piece of paper, the capsule weather report, from "The New York Times" for years. I once made a wall installation with a year of these corners (see ph ...
Unrealized projects 1. Corners from "The New York Times" front page. I have been tearing and storing a piece of paper, the capsule weather report, from "The New York Times" for years. I once made a wall installation with a year of these corners (see ph ...
W5476
21.10.2012
Roberto Delgado
WWW
Berliner Künstlerprogramm/DAAD 19 Oct 2012 This is a Project Description for the unrealized Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Station Public Art Project RFP. My proposal was for a number of 3’ x 7’ ceramic tile panels mounted on the CMU ...
Berliner Künstlerprogramm/DAAD 19 Oct 2012 This is a Project Description for the unrealized Los Angeles Police Department Hollenbeck Station Public Art Project RFP. My proposal was for a number of 3’ x 7’ ceramic tile panels mounted on the CMU ...