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.

Making for Art - 100 Unsucceeded Presentation - 1995, 1996,  - Yutaka Sone

Time Magazine Cover - Robert Rauschenberg

<A Public Misery Message> - Critical Art Ensemble

No title, as the project only reached proposal stage - Rikrit Tiravanija

Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer

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

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

The Rosetta Garden - Gary Simmons

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Mahe Gilles

Dog Jaw Monument - A Futurist Tele-introject - Leon Golub

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3539
11.05.2011
Grey Blob, 2010 - Alexandra Kennedy
WWW
Unrealised Project No. 2. Grey Blob, 2010. ‘Did you know that our planet is in imminent danger of being devoured by a giant grey blob? ...The world-consuming “grey goo” would actually be an uncontrollable mass of self-replicating, molecular- ...
Unrealised Project No. 2. Grey Blob, 2010. ‘Did you know that our planet is in imminent danger of being devoured by a giant grey blob? ...The world-consuming “grey goo” would actually be an uncontrollable mass of self-replicating, molecular- ...
W11140
20.11.2016
Proposal for the Hollywood Fault - Lee Lavy
WWW
Hollywood Fault The Hollywood Fault, according the the State Geological Survey map released in January 2014, runs east to west through Hollywood. It is represented on the map as a yellow gash, roughly 500 ft wide, traveling along Sunset Blvd, up to Hol ...
Hollywood Fault The Hollywood Fault, according the the State Geological Survey map released in January 2014, runs east to west through Hollywood. It is represented on the map as a yellow gash, roughly 500 ft wide, traveling along Sunset Blvd, up to Hol ...
W5232
08.10.2012
Protest in Abstract - John O'Hare
WWW
Protest in Abstract: Proposal Introduction It is increasingly common for protests to occur against historical and iconic backdrops, inserting a voice of resistance that, too, takes on the qualities of iconography and history. With its carnival atmosph ...
Protest in Abstract: Proposal Introduction It is increasingly common for protests to occur against historical and iconic backdrops, inserting a voice of resistance that, too, takes on the qualities of iconography and history. With its carnival atmosph ...
W5285
16.10.2012
Asurini  - Adriana
WWW
Asurini – Textile Design It was my last years in University (2006) when I developed and designed this project. It took 9 months searching and designing it. I was fascinated about the local (Brazilian Indians Asurini) body painting and the story behin ...
Asurini – Textile Design It was my last years in University (2006) when I developed and designed this project. It took 9 months searching and designing it. I was fascinated about the local (Brazilian Indians Asurini) body painting and the story behin ...
W4712
26.05.2011
LISTE ROUGE [MEMORIAL FOR THE DISAPPEARED]  - spmb [Eduardo Aquino & Karen Shanski]
WWW
LISTE ROUGE [MEMORIAL FOR THE DISAPPEARED] is a proposal by spmb for the City of Geneva’s 2011 Neons Competition. Starting from the observation that the Geneva Ecological Region has lost seven flower species to urban development in the past decades, we ...
LISTE ROUGE [MEMORIAL FOR THE DISAPPEARED] is a proposal by spmb for the City of Geneva’s 2011 Neons Competition. Starting from the observation that the Geneva Ecological Region has lost seven flower species to urban development in the past decades, we ...
W4069
23.05.2011
Alishia Duncanson
WWW
Title: “Mission Impossible 1” Materials: Wood and M.D.F board Corridor space containing 5- 20 drawings in space, creating semi obstructed spaces to be engaged with by the viewer. The work asks the viewer to investigate both space and time as each ...
Title: “Mission Impossible 1” Materials: Wood and M.D.F board Corridor space containing 5- 20 drawings in space, creating semi obstructed spaces to be engaged with by the viewer. The work asks the viewer to investigate both space and time as each ...
W5412
20.10.2012
THE ISLAND PROJECT - Pietro Mele
WWW
PIETRO MELE The Island Project Multimedia project I am going to start a campaign of fund raising so as to purchase the private Island of Budelli* for giving it to the Sardinian Government. Despite the island is part of the highly protected La Madda ...
PIETRO MELE The Island Project Multimedia project I am going to start a campaign of fund raising so as to purchase the private Island of Budelli* for giving it to the Sardinian Government. Despite the island is part of the highly protected La Madda ...
W4923
18.08.2012
Hadas Tapouchi
WWW
TadasTapouchiArtist_Statement. The main reason for myself to apply to this open call is to work in a new environment and to find (new) artistic ways of expression, and off course to Stimulate art on live, Create a beneficial environment for the deve ...
TadasTapouchiArtist_Statement. The main reason for myself to apply to this open call is to work in a new environment and to find (new) artistic ways of expression, and off course to Stimulate art on live, Create a beneficial environment for the deve ...
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 ...
W5090
10.09.2012
Glass Drummers Pavilion - Olivia Booth
WWW
Call for Unrealized Projects Olivia Booth September, 2012 oabooth@yahoo.com www.oliviabooth.net GLASS DRUMMERS PAVILION This repositionable glass drummer's pavilion is meant to latch on to the ground level of any international style ...
Call for Unrealized Projects Olivia Booth September, 2012 oabooth@yahoo.com www.oliviabooth.net GLASS DRUMMERS PAVILION This repositionable glass drummer's pavilion is meant to latch on to the ground level of any international style ...
W5314
17.10.2012
Panikon deima - Cynthia Reynolds
WWW
An unrealized electrostatic installation Below is part of a detailed proposal prepared for me by an organometallic chemist I contacted via the Internet in 2005 and corresponded with over a two-year period. He had a website expressing a personal interes ...
An unrealized electrostatic installation Below is part of a detailed proposal prepared for me by an organometallic chemist I contacted via the Internet in 2005 and corresponded with over a two-year period. He had a website expressing a personal interes ...
W3947
20.05.2011
lucciola.net - Beatrice Crastini
WWW
Project to create a bright jewel, presented to the "Trieste Contemporanea International Design Contest", 2006 Name: lucciola.net Lucciola.net is an jewel whimsical assembled and balanced. Feature: vision in motion. In a little piece of glass ...
Project to create a bright jewel, presented to the "Trieste Contemporanea International Design Contest", 2006 Name: lucciola.net Lucciola.net is an jewel whimsical assembled and balanced. Feature: vision in motion. In a little piece of glass ...
W4615
25.05.2011
Tia-Simone Gardner
WWW
The project that I am working on is a more involved video project, developed out of an installation of stills, that will re-narrate, and re-edit, Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film 'La noire de.' I began the ground work for this project over a year ago while thi ...
The project that I am working on is a more involved video project, developed out of an installation of stills, that will re-narrate, and re-edit, Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film 'La noire de.' I began the ground work for this project over a year ago while thi ...
W5056
03.09.2012
School of Pharmacy in Sevilla - Taller Basico de Arquitectura [TBA]
WWW
School of Pharmacy in Sevilla (2011) We propose to build a new public space, a place opened to students and visitors, a room for the city. This room recreates an enclosed space, a courtyard. The new public space is affected by movements and pedestrian ...
School of Pharmacy in Sevilla (2011) We propose to build a new public space, a place opened to students and visitors, a room for the city. This room recreates an enclosed space, a courtyard. The new public space is affected by movements and pedestrian ...
W4240
24.05.2011
Josefina Posch
WWW
W4622
25.05.2011
THE STAR OF MIAMI - Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt / R & R Studios
WWW
THE STAR OF MIAMI WATERMARK & PUBLIC PARK The origin of The Star of Miami is in the sky, the idea of hope and the world of tomorrow. Like a cardinal star that unites North, South, East and West, the northern star that guides sailors to new lands and a ...
THE STAR OF MIAMI WATERMARK & PUBLIC PARK The origin of The Star of Miami is in the sky, the idea of hope and the world of tomorrow. Like a cardinal star that unites North, South, East and West, the northern star that guides sailors to new lands and a ...
W4072
23.05.2011
'KEIDAI reappearance' project - OKAMOTO Mitsuhiro
WWW
'KEIDAI reappearance' project, July to September 2005, is reappearance of one of a Japanese shrine precincts in Ciaotou, south of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  Most Japanese Shinto shrines in Taiwan were destroyed by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang after W.W.Ⅱ ...
'KEIDAI reappearance' project, July to September 2005, is reappearance of one of a Japanese shrine precincts in Ciaotou, south of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  Most Japanese Shinto shrines in Taiwan were destroyed by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang after W.W.Ⅱ ...
W4046
22.05.2011
hold / collapse - Joe Dal Pra
WWW
Joe Dal Pra Installation Project: Title: hold / collapse Description: intertwining of linear structures into curving form. Structures are holding silhouettes of figures, planes, and parts. Materials: wood and steel. Size: variable dimensions ...
Joe Dal Pra Installation Project: Title: hold / collapse Description: intertwining of linear structures into curving form. Structures are holding silhouettes of figures, planes, and parts. Materials: wood and steel. Size: variable dimensions ...
W4161
23.05.2011
Failure - Pauline Hanson
WWW
http://www.severalpursuits.org/?pageid=72 http://www.severalpursuits.org/?pageid=78 ...
http://www.severalpursuits.org/?pageid=72 http://www.severalpursuits.org/?pageid=78 ...
W7067
24.11.2013
Ardfert “Miracle Hill”  - Julie Forrester
WWW
THEMES The theme will be Ardfert “Miracle Hill”. Ideas about miracles will be explored playfully by posing questions: What exactly is a miracle? Do you know any miracles? Are miracles real? Do we need them? Who are the people who inhabit miracles? ...
THEMES The theme will be Ardfert “Miracle Hill”. Ideas about miracles will be explored playfully by posing questions: What exactly is a miracle? Do you know any miracles? Are miracles real? Do we need them? Who are the people who inhabit miracles? ...
W5457
20.10.2012
BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) - Ann Daly
WWW
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) Part of a larger project "Looking for the Labyrinth: Re-collecting Versailles". Cast white porcelain, sculptural walls, total size approximately 16 feet x 12 ...
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING V: “LOST” (A Porcelain Landscape Room) Part of a larger project "Looking for the Labyrinth: Re-collecting Versailles". Cast white porcelain, sculptural walls, total size approximately 16 feet x 12 ...
W4138
23.05.2011
No manʼs land - Constanza Alarcón Tennen
WWW
No manʼs land This installation was projected for Sala SAM, a gallery in Santiago de Chile, to be exhibited in August 2010. Because of the abrupt closure of the gallery, the Project was stoped a month before opening. No manʼs land was based in the obs ...
No manʼs land This installation was projected for Sala SAM, a gallery in Santiago de Chile, to be exhibited in August 2010. Because of the abrupt closure of the gallery, the Project was stoped a month before opening. No manʼs land was based in the obs ...
W5121
18.09.2012
Mo White
WWW
In 2009 I made a film whose completion has been continually postponed. I made the film quickly with materials to hand, in Super 8 format. The making of the work was an immediate reaction and response to a small event. ‘In March 2009 I bought a lime ...
In 2009 I made a film whose completion has been continually postponed. I made the film quickly with materials to hand, in Super 8 format. The making of the work was an immediate reaction and response to a small event. ‘In March 2009 I bought a lime ...
W5270
13.10.2012
neomad - GrubyPunkt Urban Lab
WWW
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
TITLE: [neomad] AUTHOR: GrubyPunkt Urban Lab WWW: grubypunkt.tumblr.com Nomadism is the oldest lifestyle of human species. Human has been a nomad for the most part of his history. Mongols, Bedouins, Saamis still move their living space with t ...
W5181
29.09.2012
Binary Kruno - Kruno Jost
WWW
COMPUTER GENERATED ARTISTS /// under construction - working name BinaryKruno WHAT: Binary Kruno (BK) is a critique of the system of artistic production in modern times. The project aims to discover through research whether approaches to funding artistic ...
COMPUTER GENERATED ARTISTS /// under construction - working name BinaryKruno WHAT: Binary Kruno (BK) is a critique of the system of artistic production in modern times. The project aims to discover through research whether approaches to funding artistic ...
W3589
13.05.2011
Failed Music Store - Luke Munn
WWW
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...
Work Description: In this proposed project for Watermans, 1000 bargain bin CDs are purchased and made available to visitors to browse, playback and take-away if they wish. Rather than a constantly updated library of the latest hits, these albums are the ...