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.

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Mahe Gilles

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

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

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

Project pour le parc de sculpture de Vassiviére - Paul-Armand Gette

Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa

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

Unrealized Projects - Jonas Meckas

Merci, Thank you, Danke: Les 2 sujets  - Thomas Hirschorn

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3769
18.05.2011
The Twitstat Project - Renee Zepeda and Chris Weige
WWW
The Twitstat Project exists as a collaborative book of poetry, which we envisioned to be the script for a film. It involves a young Japanese-American woman, a middle-aged German-American man, and a young Jewish-American woman. ...
The Twitstat Project exists as a collaborative book of poetry, which we envisioned to be the script for a film. It involves a young Japanese-American woman, a middle-aged German-American man, and a young Jewish-American woman. ...
W3557
12.05.2011
Liberties - Esin Turan
WWW
Abstract Liberties is an experiment in giving and receiving and working together peacefully to create something of universal value and at the same time benefit individually. It is an interactive lear- ning experience, in which each participant learns tha ...
Abstract Liberties is an experiment in giving and receiving and working together peacefully to create something of universal value and at the same time benefit individually. It is an interactive lear- ning experience, in which each participant learns tha ...
W4917
15.08.2012
Oxford Toilet Exchange - Katie Herzog
WWW
Oxford Toilet Exchange My proposed exchange will be facilitated via the swapping of doors in the stalls of the public toilet at the Oxford University Library with stall doors in the Oxford Public Library. Library Toilet as Final Frontier: On Reject ...
Oxford Toilet Exchange My proposed exchange will be facilitated via the swapping of doors in the stalls of the public toilet at the Oxford University Library with stall doors in the Oxford Public Library. Library Toilet as Final Frontier: On Reject ...
W4489
25.05.2011
Unrealized Project  - Na'ama Zussman
WWW
Unrealized Project 1 God, memory, if you didn’t exist, I would have to create you. Na’ama Zussman This work offers an Ongoing Meeting Between Reality and Memory, onto anyone can reflects and projects himself, as his dimensions of presentation – pa ...
Unrealized Project 1 God, memory, if you didn’t exist, I would have to create you. Na’ama Zussman This work offers an Ongoing Meeting Between Reality and Memory, onto anyone can reflects and projects himself, as his dimensions of presentation – pa ...
W4515
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 ...
W4146
23.05.2011
Art School - Cornford & Cross
WWW
Art School would have occupied the Chisenhale Gallery, London, for one month to facilitate an explicit and implicit enquiry into notions of the art school. With contributions from artists, writers and curators, the project would have encouraged participa ...
Art School would have occupied the Chisenhale Gallery, London, for one month to facilitate an explicit and implicit enquiry into notions of the art school. With contributions from artists, writers and curators, the project would have encouraged participa ...
W3603
13.05.2011
francine LeClercq
WWW
in memoriam of a work not yet done ...
in memoriam of a work not yet done ...
W4195
24.05.2011
PURGATORIUM - Zoran Velimanovic
WWW
PURGATORIUM Purgatorium is a total art project with site-specific concept, which combines a contemporary visual art work with classical cultural values. The project focuses on the great and challenging theme of the Purgatory and tries to discover its mea ...
PURGATORIUM Purgatorium is a total art project with site-specific concept, which combines a contemporary visual art work with classical cultural values. The project focuses on the great and challenging theme of the Purgatory and tries to discover its mea ...
W4332
24.05.2011
The Golden Pavilion - Xawery Wolski
WWW
The Golden Pavilion. 1993 What is essentially remote is the unapproachable. In fact, the main quality of an image used for worship is its inapproachability. By its very nature, it is always remote, as close as it may be. One can approach its material rea ...
The Golden Pavilion. 1993 What is essentially remote is the unapproachable. In fact, the main quality of an image used for worship is its inapproachability. By its very nature, it is always remote, as close as it may be. One can approach its material rea ...
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... ...
W3612
13.05.2011
Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) - Divya Mehra
WWW
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
Filmed & edited (2007-2008) during Columbia University's planned expansion in Harlem, Gonna Make you Sweat (2008) had big plans to rival Harlem's monolithic neighborhood endorsements. The work teeters within a space of uncertainty; does it function as a ...
W4898
11.08.2012
Space and Time - Joe Sobel
WWW
In graduate school I would rearrange my studio constantly. It wasn’t until after I learned of the term tabulology, while studying The Peter Principle. It is the study of unusual arrangements of desks, workbenches, etc. with acts of habituation and repet ...
In graduate school I would rearrange my studio constantly. It wasn’t until after I learned of the term tabulology, while studying The Peter Principle. It is the study of unusual arrangements of desks, workbenches, etc. with acts of habituation and repet ...
W5336
18.10.2012
ONE HELLUVA NIGHTMARE - Hanínga Thiel
WWW
Proposal for the Berlin Biennale 2012, ignored by curators (I got no rejection, not even a message whatsoever) ONE HELLUVA NIGHTMARE Dimensions: appr. 3 x 3 m (variable, can be adjusted accordingly to space). Living in the area around Gorleben, Nie ...
Proposal for the Berlin Biennale 2012, ignored by curators (I got no rejection, not even a message whatsoever) ONE HELLUVA NIGHTMARE Dimensions: appr. 3 x 3 m (variable, can be adjusted accordingly to space). Living in the area around Gorleben, Nie ...
W5131
19.09.2012
Gods Acre - Leo Morrissey
WWW
Project: gods acre Each day I walk to work I walk through God’s Acre, a Moravian cemetery. The section of the cemetery I walk through is where the women and men are buried. An important part of the Moravian burial practice is that individuals ar ...
Project: gods acre Each day I walk to work I walk through God’s Acre, a Moravian cemetery. The section of the cemetery I walk through is where the women and men are buried. An important part of the Moravian burial practice is that individuals ar ...
W5159
24.09.2012
The DECISION is yours - Taša Turk
WWW
»The DECISION is yours« »The DECISION is yours« is an unrealized project. The idea was created in 2009 as a response to what was happening in society and on the planet. The main thought of the project was to remind the observer of how important a ...
»The DECISION is yours« »The DECISION is yours« is an unrealized project. The idea was created in 2009 as a response to what was happening in society and on the planet. The main thought of the project was to remind the observer of how important a ...
W5022
31.08.2012
Hotel Libertas - Peter Friedl
WWW
Hotel Libertas, 2003 Peter Friedl Upon invitation from Catherine David, curating an exhibition for the Museum of Modern Art in Dubrovnik, a series of altogether six lectures and presentations took place in 2002/03. In connection with my stay and lec ...
Hotel Libertas, 2003 Peter Friedl Upon invitation from Catherine David, curating an exhibition for the Museum of Modern Art in Dubrovnik, a series of altogether six lectures and presentations took place in 2002/03. In connection with my stay and lec ...
U9963
01.01.1994
Ruderaltisch, 1994/95 Kunst am Bau - Projekt - Lois Weinberger
Unbuilt Roads
Die Arbeit besteht aus einem Betontisch im Freien / auf dem erdgefüllte / allgegenwärtige Behälter / wie entleerte Öldosen / leere Farbkübel / „unverwüstliche Plastiksäcke" stehen. Eine Bepflanzung wird nicht vorgenommen / da die im Freiland ...
Die Arbeit besteht aus einem Betontisch im Freien / auf dem erdgefüllte / allgegenwärtige Behälter / wie entleerte Öldosen / leere Farbkübel / „unverwüstliche Plastiksäcke" stehen. Eine Bepflanzung wird nicht vorgenommen / da die im Freiland ...
W11006
26.03.2016
Monetarium - Amitesh Grover
WWW
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
W5491
26.10.2012
AUDIOLABIA - Karen Hibbard
WWW
Arist Book Proposal by Karen Hibbard, Women’s Studio Workshop, 2011. The title merges the words ‘audio’ and ‘labia’. Audio is any refers to any representation of sound. Labium (plural labia) is a Latin‐derived term meaning "Lip".The labia are ...
Arist Book Proposal by Karen Hibbard, Women’s Studio Workshop, 2011. The title merges the words ‘audio’ and ‘labia’. Audio is any refers to any representation of sound. Labium (plural labia) is a Latin‐derived term meaning "Lip".The labia are ...
W10717
11.09.2014
Parallelle Projekte in der Stadt Münster, 1997 - Nicolaisen Terje
WWW
At my final year in the Academy I went to Münster to show my projects with Yellow Light. Should I wait till I am 60 to be invited or just go to the party uninvited? Kasper König made it clear to me in his office at Landesmuseum that this was a private p ...
At my final year in the Academy I went to Münster to show my projects with Yellow Light. Should I wait till I am 60 to be invited or just go to the party uninvited? Kasper König made it clear to me in his office at Landesmuseum that this was a private p ...
W3984
21.05.2011
Erin Leland
WWW
My professor photographed me when I was younger and later gave me 3,000 out of a group of 10,000 pictures for my own use. When he died without a will, his two sons found our printed images scattered in the home and the digital images in a number of hard d ...
My professor photographed me when I was younger and later gave me 3,000 out of a group of 10,000 pictures for my own use. When he died without a will, his two sons found our printed images scattered in the home and the digital images in a number of hard d ...
W5281
15.10.2012
The Sky Reaching Hammock - Adam Kalinowsk
WWW
2000, Poznan, Poland. Project for kinetic outdoor sculpture. Proposed total dimensions: 2200 x 7000 x 7000 cm. Steel, aircraft cable, wind turbines with reduction gears. Model in 1:8 scale. Propellers are pointed to various directions in relation to ...
2000, Poznan, Poland. Project for kinetic outdoor sculpture. Proposed total dimensions: 2200 x 7000 x 7000 cm. Steel, aircraft cable, wind turbines with reduction gears. Model in 1:8 scale. Propellers are pointed to various directions in relation to ...
W4073
23.05.2011
Project: LA Film - Inez de Coo
WWW
With this project I will to fund the materials to start up a self-sufficient career as an artist, this mainly means acquiring a professional video camera. With this camera I will make a trip, accompanied by an actor I have worked with often, to Los Angele ...
With this project I will to fund the materials to start up a self-sufficient career as an artist, this mainly means acquiring a professional video camera. With this camera I will make a trip, accompanied by an actor I have worked with often, to Los Angele ...
W5081
06.09.2012
Der Todeszug - The LGB Group
WWW
Der Todeszug is a project that envisioned using an entire train as a canvas. Not as a bombed out suburban train, but a civic connection between the seperated Belgrade and Sarajevo, whose train connection was severed for over 18 years due to war and nation ...
Der Todeszug is a project that envisioned using an entire train as a canvas. Not as a bombed out suburban train, but a civic connection between the seperated Belgrade and Sarajevo, whose train connection was severed for over 18 years due to war and nation ...
W3980
21.05.2011
Untitled - Sky Fairchild-Waller
WWW
'Untitled' is a photo and text-based work that explores the poetics of a young mother raising a young girl. Meredith admired the speckles of flour that had landed on her apron. The print was floral; violet and pink flower buds, small and slightly fade ...
'Untitled' is a photo and text-based work that explores the poetics of a young mother raising a young girl. Meredith admired the speckles of flour that had landed on her apron. The print was floral; violet and pink flower buds, small and slightly fade ...
W4978
24.08.2012
Let it Flow - David Borawski
WWW
Proposal for ANTI festival Let It Flow, 2008 Proposed for the RÖNÖ Bridge site. I would enlist local residents and any interested parties to be participants in the project. The group meets at beginning end of bridge. Each person is given a re ...
Proposal for ANTI festival Let It Flow, 2008 Proposed for the RÖNÖ Bridge site. I would enlist local residents and any interested parties to be participants in the project. The group meets at beginning end of bridge. Each person is given a re ...