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.

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

To Two Too; Hypothetical Monument for a Natural Disaster - Jeffrey Wisniewski

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

Electronic Theater - Laurie Anderson

Ceinture - Huang Ping Yong

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

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

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

Battery Park City - Per Kirkeby

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5067
05.09.2012
Color Pencil Tree - Dave Rittinger
WWW
Artist and designer Dave Rittinger has developed a proposal for a public art installation entitled 'Color Pencil Tree'. The arboreal sculpture morphs tree branches with the body of the colored drawing tools. The concept is dictated by the usage of exist ...
Artist and designer Dave Rittinger has developed a proposal for a public art installation entitled 'Color Pencil Tree'. The arboreal sculpture morphs tree branches with the body of the colored drawing tools. The concept is dictated by the usage of exist ...
W5101
13.09.2012
Copa & Sordes
WWW
and an another proposal for an ornament in art context ...
and an another proposal for an ornament in art context ...
W3951
20.05.2011
DISCOVERY of the GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY, or CHOOSE DETERMINISM - Alyce Santoro
WWW
my unrealized project is an extra-scientific contribution to the GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY in physics. DISCOVERY of the GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY, or CHOOSE DETERMINISM, the Unrealized Project of Alyce Santoro Physicists are working around the cloc ...
my unrealized project is an extra-scientific contribution to the GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY in physics. DISCOVERY of the GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY, or CHOOSE DETERMINISM, the Unrealized Project of Alyce Santoro Physicists are working around the cloc ...
W5150
24.09.2012
a Tunnel - Nimrod Reuveni
WWW
A Tunnel - an unrealized project The project was designed for "Fresh Paint 3" art fair in Tel Aviv, 2009, as a special project of Nimrod Reuveni in collaboration with Dani Karavan. Explanation: Three-dimensional composition, consisting of ready m ...
A Tunnel - an unrealized project The project was designed for "Fresh Paint 3" art fair in Tel Aviv, 2009, as a special project of Nimrod Reuveni in collaboration with Dani Karavan. Explanation: Three-dimensional composition, consisting of ready m ...
W5164
25.09.2012
E-Motion Pictures - Ron Weijers
WWW
The ‘E-Motion Pictures’ project by the Dutch multi-disciplinary artist Ron Weijers, one could review as a series of mixed media video works that are only present in a specific set space and time – as opposed to his regular mixed-media paintings whic ...
The ‘E-Motion Pictures’ project by the Dutch multi-disciplinary artist Ron Weijers, one could review as a series of mixed media video works that are only present in a specific set space and time – as opposed to his regular mixed-media paintings whic ...
W3914
20.05.2011
Girl lists - David
WWW
David Hornback Spain 2alex.neutron@gmail.com My older brother’s excessive, obsessive list-making of girls when we were young used to drive me nuts. He made lists of all the girls he had danced with, he had kissed, he had touched, he desired, he h ...
David Hornback Spain 2alex.neutron@gmail.com My older brother’s excessive, obsessive list-making of girls when we were young used to drive me nuts. He made lists of all the girls he had danced with, he had kissed, he had touched, he desired, he h ...
W3926
20.05.2011
Denkzeichen Rosa Luxemburg - Oliver Ressler
WWW
My design for the competition “Denkzeichen Rosa Luxemburg” (Memory Marker Rosa Luxemburg; Berlin 2003) drew upon the Revolution Monument by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which was commissioned in 1926 by the German Communist Party as the central memorial ...
My design for the competition “Denkzeichen Rosa Luxemburg” (Memory Marker Rosa Luxemburg; Berlin 2003) drew upon the Revolution Monument by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which was commissioned in 1926 by the German Communist Party as the central memorial ...
W5167
25.09.2012
On lap - Lubomyr Tymkiv
WWW
On lap. The exhibition, which is on his knees in an outstanding person. It can be knee President of the State, or the Dalai Lama or the Pope or Anders Breivik. Exhibition itself is a cardboard box in which are my work. Duration of action of 15 to 30 ...
On lap. The exhibition, which is on his knees in an outstanding person. It can be knee President of the State, or the Dalai Lama or the Pope or Anders Breivik. Exhibition itself is a cardboard box in which are my work. Duration of action of 15 to 30 ...
W4544
25.05.2011
BOOTSCHAFT - Sabine Kacunko
WWW
BOOTSCHAFT germ-(cell) F2 Medieninstallation National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) BOOTSCHAFT germ-(cell) F2 Konzept BOOTSCHAFT ist ein multimedial und global angelegtes Projekt, das Objekte im öffent- lichen Raum mit einem besonderen kulturellen od ...
BOOTSCHAFT germ-(cell) F2 Medieninstallation National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) BOOTSCHAFT germ-(cell) F2 Konzept BOOTSCHAFT ist ein multimedial und global angelegtes Projekt, das Objekte im öffent- lichen Raum mit einem besonderen kulturellen od ...
W4054
23.05.2011
LIGHT BRIDGE
 - Bradley Pitts
WWW
Unrealized Proposal for LIGHT BRIDGE
 Bradley Pitts, 2003 Light Bridge proposes to bring sunlight from one location on the earth to another, transporting space and time. Mirrors at the source location reflect daylight to a geostationary satellite, ...
Unrealized Proposal for LIGHT BRIDGE
 Bradley Pitts, 2003 Light Bridge proposes to bring sunlight from one location on the earth to another, transporting space and time. Mirrors at the source location reflect daylight to a geostationary satellite, ...
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 ...
W10185
04.04.2014
Robot Building Museum Shop from MCA to DIA - Maymay Jumsai
WWW
My proposal is to make a museum shop for the Robot Building my father designed. I’m asian, I have a strong family value. The Robot Building was part of the project ‘City on the Move’, that went to Venice Biennale in 1996. We had to pay for the ship ...
My proposal is to make a museum shop for the Robot Building my father designed. I’m asian, I have a strong family value. The Robot Building was part of the project ‘City on the Move’, that went to Venice Biennale in 1996. We had to pay for the ship ...
W4384
25.05.2011
Baiju Parthan
WWW
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' (An unrealized project from 2008 ) The project is an attempt to suggest that 'identity' is not a monolithic immutable asset, but a very granular and dynamic feedback system, a ceaseless process that continually emit and absor ...
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' (An unrealized project from 2008 ) The project is an attempt to suggest that 'identity' is not a monolithic immutable asset, but a very granular and dynamic feedback system, a ceaseless process that continually emit and absor ...
W5380
19.10.2012
Caution! Work in Progress - Geraldo Zamproni
WWW
Caution! Work in Progress Rack or plastic folding board with vibrant yellow tone is a warning message that awakens the immediate interest of the observer in conferring closely with looking at what is happening. ...
Caution! Work in Progress Rack or plastic folding board with vibrant yellow tone is a warning message that awakens the immediate interest of the observer in conferring closely with looking at what is happening. ...
W4141
23.05.2011
Kisses for Paris - betty tompkins
WWW
Kisses for Paris A number of years ago, I was asked by a French critic visiting my studio, what I would do for a public space project she was thinking of organizing in Paris. I immediately said that I would want to cover Pairs with kisses. What I e ...
Kisses for Paris A number of years ago, I was asked by a French critic visiting my studio, what I would do for a public space project she was thinking of organizing in Paris. I immediately said that I would want to cover Pairs with kisses. What I e ...
W3885
19.05.2011
THE 
CHILHOOD
 OF
 AN 
ENCOUNTER
 - Martin Llavaneras
WWW
At a dinner I met R.M, aged 56 millionaire. We had a conversation. The same night, we entertained the idea of making a project together: ¨...what would happen if you were hanging from a cliff by a rope, and the rope is cut ?... ...
At a dinner I met R.M, aged 56 millionaire. We had a conversation. The same night, we entertained the idea of making a project together: ¨...what would happen if you were hanging from a cliff by a rope, and the rope is cut ?... ...
W4807
07.08.2012
Wreck  - Boris Ondreička
WWW
sitting on the driver´s seat of the car wreck reading poems / singing lyrics aloud a couple having sex under that wreck 30 minutes 30 people listening / watching silently standing around and around midnight Wreck, Boris Ondreička ...
sitting on the driver´s seat of the car wreck reading poems / singing lyrics aloud a couple having sex under that wreck 30 minutes 30 people listening / watching silently standing around and around midnight Wreck, Boris Ondreička ...
W4344
24.05.2011
Proposal for installation March 2010 - John Kenny
WWW
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
W5178
27.09.2012
The Blue Night - Monika Goetz
WWW
Titel: The Blue Night Geplanter Standort: Westpark, München Jahr: 2011 Die Blaue Stunde ist ein poetischer Begriff für die Zeit der Dämmerung zwischen Sonnenuntergang und nächtlicher Dunkelheit, sowie für die Zeit kurz vor dem Sonnenaufgang. Rei ...
Titel: The Blue Night Geplanter Standort: Westpark, München Jahr: 2011 Die Blaue Stunde ist ein poetischer Begriff für die Zeit der Dämmerung zwischen Sonnenuntergang und nächtlicher Dunkelheit, sowie für die Zeit kurz vor dem Sonnenaufgang. Rei ...
W3735
18.05.2011
Revelation - Felippe Moraes
WWW
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
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 ...
W4965
21.08.2012
Unrealized/able photography - Ana-Maria Huluban
WWW
Unrealized/able photography Ana-Maria Huluban anamariahuluban.com Photograph - possible to be taken directly: A glass cube with 2m sides, full of clear water. Inside the cube there are mirrors which reflect the surroundings and each other. ...
Unrealized/able photography Ana-Maria Huluban anamariahuluban.com Photograph - possible to be taken directly: A glass cube with 2m sides, full of clear water. Inside the cube there are mirrors which reflect the surroundings and each other. ...
W4591
25.05.2011
Unbuilt Art Project - colab studio, llc
WWW
colab studio, llc Reach 11 – Unbuilt Art Project AUP 05.25.11 Reach 11 is a sports complex in North Phoenix comprised of 18 soccer fields and 4 baseball fields. A Call for Artists went out to provide large amounts of shade at four diverse locations with ...
colab studio, llc Reach 11 – Unbuilt Art Project AUP 05.25.11 Reach 11 is a sports complex in North Phoenix comprised of 18 soccer fields and 4 baseball fields. A Call for Artists went out to provide large amounts of shade at four diverse locations with ...
W4147
23.05.2011
The End of Art Theory - Cornford & Cross
WWW
The End of Art Theory We were invited to submit proposals for the 2002 Liverpool Biennial. We proposed to commission a Group 4 private security vehicle and uniformed crew, as used by HM Courts and Prison Service to transport defendants. During the Bi ...
The End of Art Theory We were invited to submit proposals for the 2002 Liverpool Biennial. We proposed to commission a Group 4 private security vehicle and uniformed crew, as used by HM Courts and Prison Service to transport defendants. During the Bi ...
W4600
25.05.2011
INVESTIGATION2 - SASCHA MIKLOWEIT
WWW
SASCHA MIKLOWEIT Unrealized project for a public transport or railway station Title: INVESTIGATION2 INTRODUCTION INVESTIGATION2 is the continuation of my field research project which started 2010 with INVESTIGATION1 (for detailed material regarding ...
SASCHA MIKLOWEIT Unrealized project for a public transport or railway station Title: INVESTIGATION2 INTRODUCTION INVESTIGATION2 is the continuation of my field research project which started 2010 with INVESTIGATION1 (for detailed material regarding ...
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 ...