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.

Milan House (AC/DC & Joy Division) - Liam Gillick

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

Square Depression - Bruce Nauman

Project for the Initiative Mahnmal Homosexuellenverfolgung, Frankfurt  - Jeff Wall

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

MAK - Wien  - Rosemarie Trockel

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

The Clock - Ayse Erkmen

Relatum (Iron Plate and Stone) - Lee Ufan

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3807
18.05.2011
The Ethereal Battle - David Normal
WWW
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
The Ethereal Battle is a cosmological fantasy consisting of twenty paintings that depict the cyclic destruction and creation of the world._The premise of the Ethereal Battle envisions the aftermath of an all-pervading catastrophe in which humanity perishe ...
W3519
11.05.2011
Spartak Dulic
WWW
Cocaine sculpture text- on the back of the card ...
Cocaine sculpture text- on the back of the card ...
W4501
25.05.2011
My Modern Life
WWW
My Modern Life _ text The project shows the search of young Latvians for indivudual aims, wishes, planes, freedom and others – in Latvian, English, German and Russian. It is an interdisciplinary project of film, photography and interverntion i ...
My Modern Life _ text The project shows the search of young Latvians for indivudual aims, wishes, planes, freedom and others – in Latvian, English, German and Russian. It is an interdisciplinary project of film, photography and interverntion i ...
W4316
24.05.2011
Scaffold Cathedral - Kirsty Tinkler
WWW
Kirsty Tinkler Shoreditch Festival Proposal 2007 Working title: Scaffold Cathedral Materials: Scaffold tubing, brackets, construction mesh Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 5 metres The ‘Scaffold Cathedral’ is a skeletal structure measuring 5 x 5 metr ...
Kirsty Tinkler Shoreditch Festival Proposal 2007 Working title: Scaffold Cathedral Materials: Scaffold tubing, brackets, construction mesh Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 5 metres The ‘Scaffold Cathedral’ is a skeletal structure measuring 5 x 5 metr ...
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 ...
W5353
19.10.2012
THE STORY OF THE WRONG PRAYER BOOK - Vera Gutkina
WWW
THE STORY OF THE WRONG PRAYER BOOK (frescoes at the Chirch of Holy Mary) Some twenty km north of Jerusalem a picturesque Arab town nestles in between the green Judea hills. It is called Abu Gosh after its founders the Abugosh family. They were Muslim. ...
THE STORY OF THE WRONG PRAYER BOOK (frescoes at the Chirch of Holy Mary) Some twenty km north of Jerusalem a picturesque Arab town nestles in between the green Judea hills. It is called Abu Gosh after its founders the Abugosh family. They were Muslim. ...
W4793
13.06.2011
Between, Between, no More and Drink a Chair - Natalie Bell
WWW
This is a consciously utopian project aiming to create a very accessible and affordable pocket-sized handbook of English for Spanish-speaking immigrants in New York City. SEE PDF ...
This is a consciously utopian project aiming to create a very accessible and affordable pocket-sized handbook of English for Spanish-speaking immigrants in New York City. SEE PDF ...
W5013
30.08.2012
Children of the Enemy - Edward Walsh
WWW
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
Children of the Enemy is a sculpture dedicated to the children on either side of any conflict down through history. Stand before them and become the attacker. Stand behind them and become the attacked. "Children of the Enemy", model for bronze, 55" h ...
W4713
26.05.2011
CHROMA - spmb [Eduardo Aquino & Karen Shanski]
WWW
CHROMA [2011] was a proposal by spmb for a permanent public art project for the Mount Dennis Neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is derived from the neighbourhood’s desire to signify one entrance into Mount Dennis through art, more specifically marking ...
CHROMA [2011] was a proposal by spmb for a permanent public art project for the Mount Dennis Neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. It is derived from the neighbourhood’s desire to signify one entrance into Mount Dennis through art, more specifically marking ...
W4276
24.05.2011
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium Camden, New Jersey ...
Proposal for the New Jersey State Aquarium Camden, New Jersey ...
W4972
24.08.2012
Memories on the Falls - R. Songe Lee
WWW
Memories on the Falls Video projection by R. Songe Lee Place: Niagara Falls Memory of people traverses through space and time that is projected onto the Niagara Falls. There are two projections, one waterfall with a space that still exists ...
Memories on the Falls Video projection by R. Songe Lee Place: Niagara Falls Memory of people traverses through space and time that is projected onto the Niagara Falls. There are two projections, one waterfall with a space that still exists ...
W4455
25.05.2011
"GLOBAL SATELLITE PROJECT" - Joaquim Pereira Eires
WWW
"GLOBAL SATELLITE PROJECT" is een eigen concept waarin satellietbeelden, een snapshot van een bepaalde tijd en omgeving, "horizontaal" worden geïntegreerd in de publieke ruimte van meestal diezelfde omgeving. De digitale basis-satellietbeelden die hiervo ...
"GLOBAL SATELLITE PROJECT" is een eigen concept waarin satellietbeelden, een snapshot van een bepaalde tijd en omgeving, "horizontaal" worden geïntegreerd in de publieke ruimte van meestal diezelfde omgeving. De digitale basis-satellietbeelden die hiervo ...
W5035
31.08.2012
Firstandlast - Heikki Salo
WWW
Firstandlast was submitted to ISEA 04 in Helsinki. The installation consists of a series of artificial worlds, ranging from videoscapes to fully abstract spaces (e.g. from natural landscapes to fractal universes) that represent the development of a fic ...
Firstandlast was submitted to ISEA 04 in Helsinki. The installation consists of a series of artificial worlds, ranging from videoscapes to fully abstract spaces (e.g. from natural landscapes to fractal universes) that represent the development of a fic ...
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. ...
W5754
21.05.2013
Like birds on the water - Laura Carthew
WWW
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
Laura Carthew Like birds on the water, Propositional Photo montage of a performance. 2011 This piece was going to be a continuation of my ‘Living Memorial’ project (2011), which involved people acting as objects within memorial forms. I wanted ...
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. ...
W10588
21.06.2014
The Surrey Flame - Jonathan Parsons
WWW
Proposal to re-use the dismantled aluminium Olympic Rings that were sited on Box Hill during the cycling road race of London 2012 The forms that resulted from the way the original aluminium Olympic rings had been deconstructed inspired me to design a s ...
Proposal to re-use the dismantled aluminium Olympic Rings that were sited on Box Hill during the cycling road race of London 2012 The forms that resulted from the way the original aluminium Olympic rings had been deconstructed inspired me to design a s ...
W3693
16.05.2011
Liza Eurich
WWW
STATEMENT Liza Eurich / 2011.05.16 My current studio practice in engaged in a critical inquiry that considers how failure might be defined in a capacity that extends beyond its utilization as a category of judgment. Rather, failure functions alternati ...
STATEMENT Liza Eurich / 2011.05.16 My current studio practice in engaged in a critical inquiry that considers how failure might be defined in a capacity that extends beyond its utilization as a category of judgment. Rather, failure functions alternati ...
W4091
23.05.2011
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000002 - Stefano W. Pasquini
WWW
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000002: a found photo gets printed as big as a building. Please note that the bad quality of the files is due to the fact that scanners had a very low quality in 1994. You may see the whole series on http://stefanopasquini.net/con ...
UNREALIZEABLE PROJECT A000002: a found photo gets printed as big as a building. Please note that the bad quality of the files is due to the fact that scanners had a very low quality in 1994. You may see the whole series on http://stefanopasquini.net/con ...
W5065
04.09.2012
The Canon - Stephanie Radok
WWW
The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. It involves casting 1,001 books representing the canon of Western literature. A list of the books, the rejected works and the reasons for the choices made form ...
The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. The unrealised project is called 'The canon'. It involves casting 1,001 books representing the canon of Western literature. A list of the books, the rejected works and the reasons for the choices made form ...
W5068
05.09.2012
White Blood Cells - Bodino Philippe
WWW
multi-artistic performance uses several field such as live painting, video, dance, live music, improvisation. ...
multi-artistic performance uses several field such as live painting, video, dance, live music, improvisation. ...
W3652
15.05.2011
Dederon – The Fabric of the East - Daniel Blochwitz
WWW
One of the most complex and yet unrealized projects of mine is “Dederon – The Fabric of the East” (2003-present), which literally uses the (polyester) thread named after the DDR (engl.: G.D.R.) to trace the initially noble and ambitious project of e ...
One of the most complex and yet unrealized projects of mine is “Dederon – The Fabric of the East” (2003-present), which literally uses the (polyester) thread named after the DDR (engl.: G.D.R.) to trace the initially noble and ambitious project of e ...
W5075
05.09.2012
Nico Dockx
WWW
"Since I first met with Hans Ulrich Obrist on 15.03.2002 in his office at the Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris -talking together about new kinds of slowness…- we tried for almost 10 years to go and visit the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos at ...
"Since I first met with Hans Ulrich Obrist on 15.03.2002 in his office at the Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris -talking together about new kinds of slowness…- we tried for almost 10 years to go and visit the Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos at ...
W4755
27.05.2011
Dreamy - Oona Stern
WWW
dreamy A wall is constructed brick-and-mortar style, but instead of clay or stone, the bricks are made from shrubbery. It is both a wall and a topiary, bringing together architecture and the garden. As typical of hedgerows, it serves to define space, ...
dreamy A wall is constructed brick-and-mortar style, but instead of clay or stone, the bricks are made from shrubbery. It is both a wall and a topiary, bringing together architecture and the garden. As typical of hedgerows, it serves to define space, ...
W4214
24.05.2011
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine - Atelier Uraiqat
WWW
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine is the manifestation of the struggle between the desiring individual and controlling society, where desire acts as the ...
Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine Atelier Uraiqat Strayed in Schizophrenic Landscapes of a Celibate Machine is the manifestation of the struggle between the desiring individual and controlling society, where desire acts as the ...
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 ...