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.

Visual Poem: Cap I Cua - Joan Brossa

A FAIRLY TALL TOWER, 48,000 Miles High -  - Siah Armajani

Uncompleted 1966 - and on  - John Armleder

Invitation Space No.1 - Tania Mouraud

Projets non réalisés: - Daniel Buren

City Hall Tower Night Ilumination - Krysztof Wodiczko

"400" - Manfred Pernice

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

The Clock - Ayse Erkmen

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W10172
18.06.2014
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials' Project - Anja Christine Ross
WWW
The title of "Chicago Torture Justice Memorials' Project" is concerned with my suggestion building up a kind of wall with holes. In these holes you might add photographs of this prison-archives. In my mind I found another idea that this wall has a signatu ...
The title of "Chicago Torture Justice Memorials' Project" is concerned with my suggestion building up a kind of wall with holes. In these holes you might add photographs of this prison-archives. In my mind I found another idea that this wall has a signatu ...
W5429
20.10.2012
imagined spaces - Stephen Cruise
WWW
Series entitled ‘imagined spaces’ begun in 2005 On-going. New works generated when site and form find their place. Stephen Cruise Willow dale ON Canada Image One 1 Raymond Drive - a re-visitation to a childhood home Image Two Blooming ...
Series entitled ‘imagined spaces’ begun in 2005 On-going. New works generated when site and form find their place. Stephen Cruise Willow dale ON Canada Image One 1 Raymond Drive - a re-visitation to a childhood home Image Two Blooming ...
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 ...
W4190
24.05.2011
ZhangLu
WWW
The political speech in China, most of speaker are speaked with unacceptable slow tunes. And clapping of the time may longer than a sentence. This project is consists of tow parts, a book and an online game. The book is about how to made the handclap in d ...
The political speech in China, most of speaker are speaked with unacceptable slow tunes. And clapping of the time may longer than a sentence. This project is consists of tow parts, a book and an online game. The book is about how to made the handclap in d ...
W4699
26.05.2011
I never said I was deep - Marcela Torres
WWW
“I never said I was deep” is the name of a project that deals with notions such as How can we retell History? And how can we manage to live with the official facts in History and ap-ply them to our everyday life and our own notions of them. Some of ...
“I never said I was deep” is the name of a project that deals with notions such as How can we retell History? And how can we manage to live with the official facts in History and ap-ply them to our everyday life and our own notions of them. Some of ...
W5347
18.10.2012
Lisa Bateman
WWW
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
An installation of public smell (ocean, brine, tar, old fish) -housed inside an abandoned parking shack at the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, NYC. Smell is emitted from a DMX HVAC scent through the fence and into public space. ...
W5169
26.09.2012
The winnipeg free museum  - Kendra Place
WWW
The winnipeg free museum (2009–2010) was an impossible, dividual artists' project. If Museums are being built as walled inspiration, promising experience and claiming to face the (carceral/) future, would the non-built or dematerialized, situated within ...
The winnipeg free museum (2009–2010) was an impossible, dividual artists' project. If Museums are being built as walled inspiration, promising experience and claiming to face the (carceral/) future, would the non-built or dematerialized, situated within ...
W3569
12.05.2011
National Address, Art Education for the public 1985  - Julianna Balogh
WWW
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
Concept Educating the public about the arts, all arts! With the help of the most powerful medium, mainstream television. Medium Projection of images from the history of art, starting with Nike of Samothrace. Location Highly visible location, pref ...
W3953
20.05.2011
Fucked by the Torque of the Turning Earth - Unknown
WWW
A Foucault pendulum is hung from the ceiling of the NYC Guggenheim. The pendulum is connected to a small set of gears that are attached to a fake penis built into a chair. As the earth turns on its axis, the Foucault pendulum turns. As the earth turns, ...
A Foucault pendulum is hung from the ceiling of the NYC Guggenheim. The pendulum is connected to a small set of gears that are attached to a fake penis built into a chair. As the earth turns on its axis, the Foucault pendulum turns. As the earth turns, ...
W5338
18.10.2012
Hanínga Thiel
WWW
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
3 proposals for the Istanbul Biennale: Proposal 1: LOST DIRECTION Some theory first: Do you know the rules and do you know the guidelines? The world has become chaotic. Confusing, mostly because opposing trends such as globalization (the increas ...
W5896
18.10.2013
Golf course - Matthijs Muller
WWW
Golf courses are artificial landscapes with artificial hills and small artificial sand dunes. Now imagine a golf course (in the Netherlands, in the meadows), without those artificial hills and the small sand dunes replaced by metal versions on poles to pu ...
Golf courses are artificial landscapes with artificial hills and small artificial sand dunes. Now imagine a golf course (in the Netherlands, in the meadows), without those artificial hills and the small sand dunes replaced by metal versions on poles to pu ...
U9523
18.02.1997
Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman
Unbuilt Roads
Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery à l'occasion de l'exposition pour la préfiguration du Musée de sculptures de Buisson-Rond organisée par Françoise Guichon en 1982. Comme toutes Jes places publiques, la Place Saint Léger est peuplée ...
Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery à l'occasion de l'exposition pour la préfiguration du Musée de sculptures de Buisson-Rond organisée par Françoise Guichon en 1982. Comme toutes Jes places publiques, la Place Saint Léger est peuplée ...
W5230
08.10.2012
When Attitude becomes Action - Jenny Dunseath
WWW
J. Dunseath 2012 When Attitude becomes Action: unrealised project proposal Referencing a series of articles where Flash Art Internationalinvites writers and curators to discuss landmark exhibitions from the past, I propose to amend historical exhibitions ...
J. Dunseath 2012 When Attitude becomes Action: unrealised project proposal Referencing a series of articles where Flash Art Internationalinvites writers and curators to discuss landmark exhibitions from the past, I propose to amend historical exhibitions ...
W4909
14.08.2012
Bring Your Own Balloon Party Invitations - Anna Wolfe-Pauly
WWW
This is a set of invitations made for a Bring Your Own Balloon Party. The invitations have come to serve the grid rather than the balloon community. The premise of the unrealized party is that each person holding an invitation would escort a balloon into ...
This is a set of invitations made for a Bring Your Own Balloon Party. The invitations have come to serve the grid rather than the balloon community. The premise of the unrealized party is that each person holding an invitation would escort a balloon into ...
W4625
25.05.2011
Ann LePore & Anibal Pella-Woo
WWW
Proposal for the Weehawken water tower. This collaborative project is an audio-visual installation for the Weehawken Water Tower. The Weehawken Water Tower stands to become one of the identifying visual landmarks of this diverse, dynamic and rapidly chang ...
Proposal for the Weehawken water tower. This collaborative project is an audio-visual installation for the Weehawken Water Tower. The Weehawken Water Tower stands to become one of the identifying visual landmarks of this diverse, dynamic and rapidly chang ...
W3606
13.05.2011
Recent Work Not Done - Buzz Spector
WWW
Date: 13 May 2011 To: The Agency of Unrealized Projects From: Buzz Spector RE: Recent Work Not Done My unrealized project is an artists’ book compilation of every artmaking idea or curatorial proposition I have had since 1972, but which ...
Date: 13 May 2011 To: The Agency of Unrealized Projects From: Buzz Spector RE: Recent Work Not Done My unrealized project is an artists’ book compilation of every artmaking idea or curatorial proposition I have had since 1972, but which ...
W5170
26.09.2012
Jessica Li
WWW
An online database of all the words I know and all the words I think I know along with their respective pronunciations, definitions, and usages. This collection would house all words in all the languages I think I know and be organized by the chronologica ...
An online database of all the words I know and all the words I think I know along with their respective pronunciations, definitions, and usages. This collection would house all words in all the languages I think I know and be organized by the chronologica ...
W3601
13.05.2011
Argumentation of the National Bitter Melon Council on the Power and Efficacy of Bitter Melonism - Andi Sutton
WWW
A proposal to the 7th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, 2012 Proposal by: The National Bitter Melon Council Web Site: http://www.bittermelon.org Contact: Andi Sutton P: 857-928-4196 E: andi.sutton@gmail.com Out of love for flavor and the desir ...
A proposal to the 7th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, 2012 Proposal by: The National Bitter Melon Council Web Site: http://www.bittermelon.org Contact: Andi Sutton P: 857-928-4196 E: andi.sutton@gmail.com Out of love for flavor and the desir ...
W5459
20.10.2012
Temporary Projection Installations for the Survivors of Atrocities. - Gavin Halm
WWW
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
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 ...
W4106
23.05.2011
"Grandes Toilettes de Ville" - Eddy Falconer
WWW
from Daphne Drillo in the Ecstasy of the Opposite Dimension: A Space Lesbian Adventure “Dr. Roper insisted on the merits of programmability in the context of long distance communication, and especially in guerilla warfare. FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF MU ...
from Daphne Drillo in the Ecstasy of the Opposite Dimension: A Space Lesbian Adventure “Dr. Roper insisted on the merits of programmability in the context of long distance communication, and especially in guerilla warfare. FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF MU ...
W3851
19.05.2011
John Miserendino
WWW
a hot air balloon shaped like an inverted empire state building. ...
a hot air balloon shaped like an inverted empire state building. ...
W4974
24.08.2012
Y - l a n d - c a l c
WWW
Y - l a n d (speak: why land) is a purely visual project, which intends to promote the Israeli - Palestinian dialogue. The basis is given through a basic and joint Israeli - Palestinian cultural element: the hexagon. Y - L A N D is making the proposal, an ...
Y - l a n d (speak: why land) is a purely visual project, which intends to promote the Israeli - Palestinian dialogue. The basis is given through a basic and joint Israeli - Palestinian cultural element: the hexagon. Y - L A N D is making the proposal, an ...
W4526
25.05.2011
« game of survival in a cold store »  - Nathalie Talec
WWW
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
W10869
18.01.2015
Jeux de société - André Guiboux
WWW
Call for proposal Protocol implementation : 1 : divert one crane. 2 : divert a police car equipped with a beacon. 3 : assemble the grapple crane car. 4 : the crane to rotate continuously and activate flashing lights police car. 5 : demanding ...
Call for proposal Protocol implementation : 1 : divert one crane. 2 : divert a police car equipped with a beacon. 3 : assemble the grapple crane car. 4 : the crane to rotate continuously and activate flashing lights police car. 5 : demanding ...
W4510
25.05.2011
THE SHIP OF NO PLACE - Yu-Chen Wang
WWW
THE SHIP OF NO PLACE Inspired by Thomas More’s 1615 fiction, Utopia – travelers’ voyages of discovering the new utopian island. The Ship of No Place is an artist traveling residency project taking place on a crew ship. The ship will set up its jo ...
THE SHIP OF NO PLACE Inspired by Thomas More’s 1615 fiction, Utopia – travelers’ voyages of discovering the new utopian island. The Ship of No Place is an artist traveling residency project taking place on a crew ship. The ship will set up its jo ...