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.

Project 1 + Project 2 - Simryn Gill

AUSSICHTSTURM, HOLZHAUS (WOHNHAUS), SCHWIMMBECKEN, FREIE FAHRT - Maria Eichhorn

Temple of the western buddha (1971 Kathmedu) - Herman de Vries

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

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

Unbetitelt, Gänse-Projekt + Noch unbetitelt , " Durch den Mund sehen " + Kartoffeln  - Carsten Holler

Cruzeiro Do Sul, (Southern Cross) (Crucero del Sur) 1969-70* - Cildo Meireles

Monument with Rust - Gustav Metzger

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3686
16.05.2011
Residue - christopher whittey
WWW
5/16/2011 Having gone through more than sufficient amounts of red tape, I procured permission to acquire shredded U.S. currency from a Federal Reserve Bank located in downtown Baltimore. Over the course of a few months, I picked up an estimated 40-50 m ...
5/16/2011 Having gone through more than sufficient amounts of red tape, I procured permission to acquire shredded U.S. currency from a Federal Reserve Bank located in downtown Baltimore. Over the course of a few months, I picked up an estimated 40-50 m ...
W4105
23.05.2011
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards     - Håvard Pedersen
WWW
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards were to be a series of abstract artwork, both site specific work and as individual sculptures, based on the theory of Dazzle Camouflage. The camouflage, credited to the English painter Norman Wilkinson, where first used during ...
Dazzle Study #10 an onwards were to be a series of abstract artwork, both site specific work and as individual sculptures, based on the theory of Dazzle Camouflage. The camouflage, credited to the English painter Norman Wilkinson, where first used during ...
W4148
23.05.2011
The Ambassadors - Cornford & Cross
WWW
The Ambassadors 2001 We were invited to submit proposals for the 2002 Liverpool Biennial. Our proposal, titled The Ambassadors, would have consisted of a set of flags of those nations with which HM Government did not maintain diplomatic relations. The ...
The Ambassadors 2001 We were invited to submit proposals for the 2002 Liverpool Biennial. Our proposal, titled The Ambassadors, would have consisted of a set of flags of those nations with which HM Government did not maintain diplomatic relations. The ...
W4079
23.05.2011
O.K & K.O Bank - O.K & K.O Bank
WWW
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
This was a proposal realized for Neón Parallax Project in Geneva, Schwitzerland. This is an ambitious and singular public art project that will provide with luminous artworks to set on the roofs of buildings around the Plaine de Plainpalais Imagine a ...
W3592
13.05.2011
ROTTEN SHARKS - paololuca barbieri
WWW
This Film is never been made but it has a phantom on the web at: www.rottensharks.com by Alterazioni Video EXT- NORDIC SEA – SUNDOWN A former fisherman’s boat, now just a dingy filled with a crew of desperados, is roaming along the cold ...
This Film is never been made but it has a phantom on the web at: www.rottensharks.com by Alterazioni Video EXT- NORDIC SEA – SUNDOWN A former fisherman’s boat, now just a dingy filled with a crew of desperados, is roaming along the cold ...
U9774
01.01.1994
Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia
Unbuilt Roads
l'ecran video Geant construit dans le prolongement de l'architecture de l'opera de la ville (Philipszaal) difuse en continue une image de la mer inversée. (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Cout élevé. (Trop!) ...
l'ecran video Geant construit dans le prolongement de l'architecture de l'opera de la ville (Philipszaal) difuse en continue une image de la mer inversée. (Eventuellement raisons pour lesquelles le travail n'a pu etre realise) Cout élevé. (Trop!) ...
W5383
19.10.2012
Dorit Feldman, Orna Oren Izraeli and Na
WWW
Unrealized Project – Dorit Feldman, Orna Oren Izraeli and Na’ama Zussman This is a proposal that suggests a unique practice of the library, on its books, ephemera and other objects of use, as if they were surfaces. The exhibition is suggested to t ...
Unrealized Project – Dorit Feldman, Orna Oren Izraeli and Na’ama Zussman This is a proposal that suggests a unique practice of the library, on its books, ephemera and other objects of use, as if they were surfaces. The exhibition is suggested to t ...
W4183
24.05.2011
Green Times Square - Holly Tempo
WWW
Green Times Square Holly Tempo In late 2007, I was invited to participate in Green-er Sessions: Sketching Solutions to Climate Change, an exhibition in which artists, scientists and architects presented solutions for climate change. I submitted a pr ...
Green Times Square Holly Tempo In late 2007, I was invited to participate in Green-er Sessions: Sketching Solutions to Climate Change, an exhibition in which artists, scientists and architects presented solutions for climate change. I submitted a pr ...
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 ...
U9543
01.01.1974
Aus: Katalog 'Kunst bleibt Kunst' - Hans Peter Feldman
Unbuilt Roads
Während der Ausstellung sollten in drei Kölner Tageszeitungen in jeweils drei Ausgaben ein bis zwei Bilder erscheinen. Diese Bilder sollten an beliebiger Stelle des redaktionellen Teils stehen und keinerlei Beziehungen zu sie umgebenden Texten oder ande ...
Während der Ausstellung sollten in drei Kölner Tageszeitungen in jeweils drei Ausgaben ein bis zwei Bilder erscheinen. Diese Bilder sollten an beliebiger Stelle des redaktionellen Teils stehen und keinerlei Beziehungen zu sie umgebenden Texten oder ande ...
W4337
24.05.2011
Mitchell Marco
WWW
Mitchell Marco This is a sketch from a found photograph of a criminal. I wanted to present him as a dark and mysterious figure in a big narrative painting. I imagined his environment would be hazy and atmospheric, an enigmatic character in the mids ...
Mitchell Marco This is a sketch from a found photograph of a criminal. I wanted to present him as a dark and mysterious figure in a big narrative painting. I imagined his environment would be hazy and atmospheric, an enigmatic character in the mids ...
W3980
21.05.2011
Untitled - Sky Fairchild-Waller
WWW
'Untitled' is a photo and text-based work that explores the poetics of a young mother raising a young girl. Meredith admired the speckles of flour that had landed on her apron. The print was floral; violet and pink flower buds, small and slightly fade ...
'Untitled' is a photo and text-based work that explores the poetics of a young mother raising a young girl. Meredith admired the speckles of flour that had landed on her apron. The print was floral; violet and pink flower buds, small and slightly fade ...
W10936
22.06.2015
THORAX - Marion Inglessi
WWW
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
When we are sick, we are vulnerable. Increasingly assailed by medicine, we maintain a fearful and passive attitude towards our health and therapy, an attitude of hopeful expectation which often has an uncertain outcome. The Sotiria Project, Memory and ...
W5152
24.09.2012
Greeting Hand - Ullrich Laentzsch
WWW
The poem is originally dedicated to the 72.8% of citizens of New York City who 2 weeks past 9/11 who two weeks past 9/11 opposed revenge. Later this poem became not only the visual basis for music video like closing scene of a feature film project NO WIND ...
The poem is originally dedicated to the 72.8% of citizens of New York City who 2 weeks past 9/11 who two weeks past 9/11 opposed revenge. Later this poem became not only the visual basis for music video like closing scene of a feature film project NO WIND ...
W4324
24.05.2011
Whisper – Murmur – Howl  - Mitya Nesterov
WWW
Whisper – Murmur – Howl Installation Project Framework It all started a few years ago when I came across several sculptured heads lying down all messy in a back yard of an art college my ex-wife attended, just like scraps of junk. I photograp ...
Whisper – Murmur – Howl Installation Project Framework It all started a few years ago when I came across several sculptured heads lying down all messy in a back yard of an art college my ex-wife attended, just like scraps of junk. I photograp ...
W4325
24.05.2011
Valery Koroshilov
WWW
A proposal for a mural "Artist's Studio" in a corporate environment interior, London 2010 ...
A proposal for a mural "Artist's Studio" in a corporate environment interior, London 2010 ...
W4778
02.06.2011
Twin Towers - Joao Felino
WWW
The work title is Twin Towers, and is constituted by two piles of Letter size office paper sheets with overall dimensions around 21.5" x 22" and 60" high, according not with scale but with the proportions of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2 once e ...
The work title is Twin Towers, and is constituted by two piles of Letter size office paper sheets with overall dimensions around 21.5" x 22" and 60" high, according not with scale but with the proportions of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2 once e ...
W3882
19.05.2011
Wheatfields - Carlo Marcucci
WWW
Large imaginary sculptures made of pasta strands. These non-existent structures are based on the "Wheatfields" body of work. "Wheatfields" are existent wall-mounted sculptures made of spaghetti and various kinds on noodles applied to wood. "The Gate" ...
Large imaginary sculptures made of pasta strands. These non-existent structures are based on the "Wheatfields" body of work. "Wheatfields" are existent wall-mounted sculptures made of spaghetti and various kinds on noodles applied to wood. "The Gate" ...
W4381
25.05.2011
Listening Sign - Jamie Pawlus
WWW
Project: Listening Sign The empty sign structure is rapidly populating the urban and rural horizon across the entire United States. I perceive it as a symbol of an economy, culture, and the human spirit in a state of decline. This structure is more tha ...
Project: Listening Sign The empty sign structure is rapidly populating the urban and rural horizon across the entire United States. I perceive it as a symbol of an economy, culture, and the human spirit in a state of decline. This structure is more tha ...
W4665
25.05.2011
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi - MomenTech
WWW
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com MomenTech’s Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi ("Symphony of the Cosmos No. 1: Master of the Game") is a proposed interactive, immersive, site-sp ...
Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi unrealized project by MomenTech http://momentech.blogspot.com MomenTech’s Kosmossinfonie Nummer 1: Magister Ludi ("Symphony of the Cosmos No. 1: Master of the Game") is a proposed interactive, immersive, site-sp ...
W3641
15.05.2011
Go Down Moses- Synopsis - Ahmad Hosni
WWW
Synopsis Go Down, Moses is book project that was conceived from the outset as a sequence of photographs existing in a relation to a parallel body of text.  The project is about a place in the process of becoming a tourist enclave and what has prec ...
Synopsis Go Down, Moses is book project that was conceived from the outset as a sequence of photographs existing in a relation to a parallel body of text.  The project is about a place in the process of becoming a tourist enclave and what has prec ...
W3759
18.05.2011
MAPPING OBSCUR A (MEMORY AND PLACE) - Yamini Nayar
WWW
Mapping Obscura - a Proposal for a Memorial to Partition Mapping obscura is a mobile memorial, a camera obscura that travels through landscape and into communities. Visitors are invited to enter the camera to compose photograms, arranging objects of pe ...
Mapping Obscura - a Proposal for a Memorial to Partition Mapping obscura is a mobile memorial, a camera obscura that travels through landscape and into communities. Visitors are invited to enter the camera to compose photograms, arranging objects of pe ...
W10332
17.04.2014
FOR ALL MANKIND - Lisa Rovner
WWW
"For all mankind" is a series of large scale poems that can be seen from above, anywhere, anytime, through programs such as Google Earth. The first in the series screams: BECAUSE I AM HUMAN AND I NEED TO BE LOVED. The poem answers an unknown question. ...
"For all mankind" is a series of large scale poems that can be seen from above, anywhere, anytime, through programs such as Google Earth. The first in the series screams: BECAUSE I AM HUMAN AND I NEED TO BE LOVED. The poem answers an unknown question. ...
W3982
21.05.2011
Kay Malek
WWW
This is a singular state of a project that will never be finished. ...
This is a singular state of a project that will never be finished. ...
W5028
31.08.2012
100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows - János Xantus
WWW
'100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows' A film of characters who are ignorent of being characters of a film. Except one of them... This "l'art pour l'art screenplay" was written by my friend Jean-Daniel Magnin and myself some twenty years ago. 1 ...
'100 Minutes from the Lives of Shadows' A film of characters who are ignorent of being characters of a film. Except one of them... This "l'art pour l'art screenplay" was written by my friend Jean-Daniel Magnin and myself some twenty years ago. 1 ...
W4528
25.05.2011
The World Exhibition - Karl Kilian
WWW
The World Exhibition – A project by Karl Kilian General information The first time there will be an exhibition all over the world. The project combines the internet and the real world, space and place, the artworld and the world population. For this ...
The World Exhibition – A project by Karl Kilian General information The first time there will be an exhibition all over the world. The project combines the internet and the real world, space and place, the artworld and the world population. For this ...