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.

Eight Days a Week - Joe Scanlan

Time Magazine Cover - Robert Rauschenberg

Theater der Leere - Werner Ruhnau and Yves Klein

The bridge according to Jeong-a's dream - Koo Jeong

Progetto per Gerry Schum - Guiseppe Penone

Unrealized Projects - Jonas Meckas

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

Billboard - Jimmie Durham

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

Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4722
26.05.2011
Broc Blegen
WWW
This is a proposal for a people's memorial in response to Hurricane Katrina, in which absurdly tall sandbag walls are built around important US flag poles across the city. The sandbags would be filled and stacked by each local community during day-long.. ...
This is a proposal for a people's memorial in response to Hurricane Katrina, in which absurdly tall sandbag walls are built around important US flag poles across the city. The sandbags would be filled and stacked by each local community during day-long.. ...
W3806
18.05.2011
(Home)Squat Residency - Melissa Wyman
WWW
(Home)Squat Residency What it is: (Home)Squat Residency is a framework for artists to find their own residency opportunities and another model of patronage for art enthusiasts. (Anyone can follow this model.) How it works: This project follow ...
(Home)Squat Residency What it is: (Home)Squat Residency is a framework for artists to find their own residency opportunities and another model of patronage for art enthusiasts. (Anyone can follow this model.) How it works: This project follow ...
W3809
18.05.2011
Josh Young
WWW
This PDF file is a rough account of a performance artwork which, although attempted, was not realised in it's originally conceived form. Other artists showing work at the event (KINDIVAL, 2009) included Neil Cummings and Dan Smith. ...
This PDF file is a rough account of a performance artwork which, although attempted, was not realised in it's originally conceived form. Other artists showing work at the event (KINDIVAL, 2009) included Neil Cummings and Dan Smith. ...
W4309
24.05.2011
“Face2 eyes spin” - dineo seshee bopape
WWW
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
“Face2 eyes spin” is a 4 seconds video sketch- without sound, of a face whirling in itself….almost like a rabbit hole of sorts…the beginning of something…sketch was made for inclusion in a video, it was supposed to have been part of a bigger vid ...
W3826
19.05.2011
CrossSpot  - Tomasz Domanski
WWW
The work I called CrossSpot is a new project . I will try to place it outdoor in the town (Wroclaw) in the area of so called four temples. In one city district there are situated one synagogue, one orthodox Russian, catholic and protestant churches. ...
The work I called CrossSpot is a new project . I will try to place it outdoor in the town (Wroclaw) in the area of so called four temples. In one city district there are situated one synagogue, one orthodox Russian, catholic and protestant churches. ...
W4476
25.05.2011
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless - Elizabeth McTernan
WWW
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless An extension of my ongoing performance project "The Satellites Are Dust, the Phone Lines Are Down, the Postal Service Is Bankrupt" (a post-apocalyptic romance of sorts), I propose erecting a telephone pole crowned with a gre ...
MEGAPHONE: The New Wireless An extension of my ongoing performance project "The Satellites Are Dust, the Phone Lines Are Down, the Postal Service Is Bankrupt" (a post-apocalyptic romance of sorts), I propose erecting a telephone pole crowned with a gre ...
W3683
16.05.2011
Mumfordshire - A Megalopolis - Bruce Asbestos
WWW
Mumfordshire is unrealised plan for a megalopolis (a series of interconnected urban areas), which seeks to re-imagine a complex but positive future of mega-cities and society. Mumfordshire is partly based on revising Lewis Mumford’s idea that the Roman ...
Mumfordshire is unrealised plan for a megalopolis (a series of interconnected urban areas), which seeks to re-imagine a complex but positive future of mega-cities and society. Mumfordshire is partly based on revising Lewis Mumford’s idea that the Roman ...
W4096
23.05.2011
Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000014: a new mountain gets built in a country that has no mountains, another way of saying thank you to the little welcoming world of contemporary art. (2004) This is my last submission, if you need further explanations feel fre ...
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 ...
U9478
01.01.1984
Projets non réalisés: - Daniel Buren
Unbuilt Roads
La liste non exhaustive qui suit correspond une á série de projets qui n'ont pas abouti. Ils sont de plusieurs types et les raisons de leur non aboutissement sont également différentes. Tout d'abord, tous sont liés des situations précises et dict ...
La liste non exhaustive qui suit correspond une á série de projets qui n'ont pas abouti. Ils sont de plusieurs types et les raisons de leur non aboutissement sont également différentes. Tout d'abord, tous sont liés des situations précises et dict ...
W11050
01.06.2016
B R E A T H E - Acrylicize
WWW
‘Breathe’ intrinsically tells the unique story about the new St Mary’s Square Development, reflecting its past and celebrating the character of the area. This forward thinking modern artistic sculpture is artistically progressive in nature. It creat ...
‘Breathe’ intrinsically tells the unique story about the new St Mary’s Square Development, reflecting its past and celebrating the character of the area. This forward thinking modern artistic sculpture is artistically progressive in nature. It creat ...
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 ...
W5313
17.10.2012
“The Account” 2011 - Georgina Criddle
WWW
“The Account” 2011, is a detailed sketch and testimony of an unrealised installation project in a gas station in Berlin. The two pieces attempt to suspend the work in a potential space between fiction and reality. ...
“The Account” 2011, is a detailed sketch and testimony of an unrealised installation project in a gas station in Berlin. The two pieces attempt to suspend the work in a potential space between fiction and reality. ...
W4386
25.05.2011
MARTINEZ PETROPOULOS WHITE
WWW
THIS ISA NICE NEIGHBORHOOD - unrealized Moscone Center/Howard Street Project for a large scale urban public artwork selected thru competition by the Arts Commission of San Francisco. ...
THIS ISA NICE NEIGHBORHOOD - unrealized Moscone Center/Howard Street Project for a large scale urban public artwork selected thru competition by the Arts Commission of San Francisco. ...
W3728
17.05.2011
Mount of Olives - Felippe Moraes
WWW
The project "Mount of Olives" is constituted by seven scaffolds with different heights, each one with an olive tree in a wooden box with earth inside in the top. The trees must be kept alive by an automatic irrigation system. ...
The project "Mount of Olives" is constituted by seven scaffolds with different heights, each one with an olive tree in a wooden box with earth inside in the top. The trees must be kept alive by an automatic irrigation system. ...
W3700
17.05.2011
Las Spratlys Project - Jevijoe Vitug
WWW
Las Spratlys Project The unrealized project Las Spratlys is based on Spratly Islands, a disputed islands claimed by China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The initial concept is to activate these islands by creating a joint venture agreement ...
Las Spratlys Project The unrealized project Las Spratlys is based on Spratly Islands, a disputed islands claimed by China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The initial concept is to activate these islands by creating a joint venture agreement ...
U9690
01.01.1995
Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer
Unbuilt Roads
Title of the project: Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal, a lazer projection of Lustmord texts onto a 1913 Battle of nations Monument. (100yr in Leipzig, Germany anniversary of 1813 battle) Description: Jenny s ...
Title of the project: Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal, a lazer projection of Lustmord texts onto a 1913 Battle of nations Monument. (100yr in Leipzig, Germany anniversary of 1813 battle) Description: Jenny s ...
W3620
14.05.2011
GORGES - JACQUELINE BELOTTI
WWW
“The lift is the most widely used means of transport in big cities. The metal box illuminated, panel with buttons and, in some cases, a mirror, gives the vertical displacement in a very simple way, and requires us to share our living space with stranger ...
“The lift is the most widely used means of transport in big cities. The metal box illuminated, panel with buttons and, in some cases, a mirror, gives the vertical displacement in a very simple way, and requires us to share our living space with stranger ...
W5440
20.10.2012
Live Baghdad Live London - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
With the beginning of the Blitz, the ‘home front’ became an important subject…two civilians were soon instigated to record the events in order not to forget. Live Baghdad Live London is a long-term project, conceptually and structurally based on ...
W4201
24.05.2011
Roger Hiorns
WWW
Section one, presents a communication to the people of Tuckerton NJ and in turn the people of NY. Section Two, I was asked to propose for the latest round of Fourth plinth installations. ...
Section one, presents a communication to the people of Tuckerton NJ and in turn the people of NY. Section Two, I was asked to propose for the latest round of Fourth plinth installations. ...
W4239
24.05.2011
OXYGEN - Peter Boyadjieff
WWW
Today our metropolitan networks require more and more physical space for their residual infrastructure and paradoxically seem to leave less and less legroom for urban appropriation by their occupants. Rather than being subjugated to it, the supremacy of t ...
Today our metropolitan networks require more and more physical space for their residual infrastructure and paradoxically seem to leave less and less legroom for urban appropriation by their occupants. Rather than being subjugated to it, the supremacy of t ...
W4209
24.05.2011
Monumentti Kutsunta - Will Foster
WWW
Monumentti Kutsunta. Monument Conscription. 2003, Helsinki. Call a draft for individuals to become public Monuments for one hour. The underline concept can be seen in ‘One & Other’ a work later realised by Antony Gormley on the fourth plinth. ...
Monumentti Kutsunta. Monument Conscription. 2003, Helsinki. Call a draft for individuals to become public Monuments for one hour. The underline concept can be seen in ‘One & Other’ a work later realised by Antony Gormley on the fourth plinth. ...
W4220
24.05.2011
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine - Atelier Uraiqat
WWW
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat “ The forces of living bodies,..... which exert their energy or force through the production of the new and create, through their efforts, networks, fields, territories that ...
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat “ The forces of living bodies,..... which exert their energy or force through the production of the new and create, through their efforts, networks, fields, territories that ...
W5076
05.09.2012
Sometimes I'm wrong - Teodoro Lupo
WWW
I was a male adolescent with a psychotherapist as a father. That lead to some conflicts. One of my favourite arguments that I can remember was: if you help a wicked person achieve a qualitative leap, does he become more or less bad? Which is the ladder yo ...
I was a male adolescent with a psychotherapist as a father. That lead to some conflicts. One of my favourite arguments that I can remember was: if you help a wicked person achieve a qualitative leap, does he become more or less bad? Which is the ladder yo ...
W3738
18.05.2011
The Body - Felippe Moraes
WWW
“The Body” is an installation in which a 1,80m x 0,5m pile of salt rests over a rustic wooden table. This work brings the discussion of the presence of an almost immaterial and spiritual body evoked by the size and by the symbolic character ...
“The Body” is an installation in which a 1,80m x 0,5m pile of salt rests over a rustic wooden table. This work brings the discussion of the presence of an almost immaterial and spiritual body evoked by the size and by the symbolic character ...
W4449
25.05.2011
20 Years After  - Xavier Rayuela
WWW
20 Years After As a par-time AIDS activist and militant, I decided to create an event to celebrate "A Day Without Art" by proposing an intervention / intrusion and re-staging residuals of my previous events related to AIDS. As an artist I was always fa ...
20 Years After As a par-time AIDS activist and militant, I decided to create an event to celebrate "A Day Without Art" by proposing an intervention / intrusion and re-staging residuals of my previous events related to AIDS. As an artist I was always fa ...