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.

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

Aus: Katalog 'Kunst bleibt Kunst' - Hans Peter Feldman

Grand Concours International D'Architecture  - Sol Lewitt

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

The pyramids...to be seen to be believed - Jonathan Monk

La Guerra De Los Simbolos - Victor Grippo

Museum - Katharina Fritsch

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

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W5083
08.09.2012
Safety for 24 hours - tat ort (Alexandra Berlinger, Wolfgang Fiel)
WWW
Commissioned by curator Thomas Kaestle on behalf of the city of Hannover, the project - among others – was expected to invigorate the discourse on public art in general as well as to provide an example for the future development of public art initiative ...
Commissioned by curator Thomas Kaestle on behalf of the city of Hannover, the project - among others – was expected to invigorate the discourse on public art in general as well as to provide an example for the future development of public art initiative ...
W4693
26.05.2011
a flower every day - Nina Meledandri
WWW
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
a flower every day was a multi-media response to Marina Abramovic’s Museum of Modern Art retrospective and performance piece: The Artist Is Present (March 14-May 31 2010). It remains an unfinished project i often respond to the work of others, not ...
W4640
25.05.2011
“Hey, wave!” - Maria Dundakova
WWW
Project “Hey, wave!” Video movie script © MARIA DUNDAKOVA a Man and a Wave The Wave – your pulse comes from the heart of the earth your dance is as light as the clouds and as heavy as an unborn child in the belly of his mother wave – you come to ...
Project “Hey, wave!” Video movie script © MARIA DUNDAKOVA a Man and a Wave The Wave – your pulse comes from the heart of the earth your dance is as light as the clouds and as heavy as an unborn child in the belly of his mother wave – you come to ...
W5424
20.10.2012
THE DIFFICULT INTERPRETATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC REALITY - Ulrich Bocker
WWW
THE DIFFICULT INTERPRETATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC REALITY For the innocent photography is the most obvious form of visual communication in the world. The pictured situation seems clear at first sight until we read the title or the legend underneath. An opt ...
THE DIFFICULT INTERPRETATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC REALITY For the innocent photography is the most obvious form of visual communication in the world. The pictured situation seems clear at first sight until we read the title or the legend underneath. An opt ...
W5177
27.09.2012
Sun Transmitters  - Boris Oicherman
WWW
Sun Transmitters Unrealized project Boris Oicherman Old Jaffa port is used mainly by the fishermen. It is a popular area populated by restaurants, bars and art galleries. One of the buildings on the southern side of Jaffa port (marked by black on the sche ...
Sun Transmitters Unrealized project Boris Oicherman Old Jaffa port is used mainly by the fishermen. It is a popular area populated by restaurants, bars and art galleries. One of the buildings on the southern side of Jaffa port (marked by black on the sche ...
W3748
18.05.2011
SPOT ON - John Gayer
WWW
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
Proposed in 2009, SPOT ON could be described as participatory pointillism. My idea was relatively simple. It involved making stamping materials (circular rubber stamps + ink/paint pads in a range of colours) available to viewers so that each could contrib ...
W3660
15.05.2011
Hannah Ross
WWW
Inspired by Janet Cardiff, creating a room for observation that requires community participation. It will be a life sized entry hallway, with a side table, telephone, and answering machine. I will have a public campaign of distributing the phone number wi ...
Inspired by Janet Cardiff, creating a room for observation that requires community participation. It will be a life sized entry hallway, with a side table, telephone, and answering machine. I will have a public campaign of distributing the phone number wi ...
W4746
26.05.2011
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal - Rafael Schmidt, RAFAA
WWW
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
Freiheits- und Einheitsdenkmal Berlin Competition In the autumn of 1989, a growing number of courageous citizens in many cities of the GDR conquered their fear and rose against the totalitarian regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). ...
W11006
26.03.2016
Monetarium - Amitesh Grover
WWW
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
What happens when we stop believing in money altogether? Monetarium is an urgent situation - An auction situation for the money. Let us think of this proposal as an invitation for an assembly - a curated, carefully selected group of people who are invited ...
W3912
20.05.2011
"Blue Plaque Portraits" [Working Title] - Jill Chong
WWW
Dear Resident of __________________________________, My name is Jill Chong and I am a second year student of fine art at Goldsmiths College. I am writing to you because I am currently doing a project based on English Heritage’s Blue Plaques scheme. M ...
Dear Resident of __________________________________, My name is Jill Chong and I am a second year student of fine art at Goldsmiths College. I am writing to you because I am currently doing a project based on English Heritage’s Blue Plaques scheme. M ...
W10660
10.08.2014
Condensed Playground: Le Pendu femelle, "Underskirt (detail)" as Postpartum Uterus Involution - Sheridan Lowrey
WWW
A commercial metal swing set (with one swing on center) and three-row aluminum bleachers in close proximity. Swing orientation is bi-directional. The piece should include a performance reenacting the dynamics of Fragonard's The Swing, 1767, and Duchamp's ...
A commercial metal swing set (with one swing on center) and three-row aluminum bleachers in close proximity. Swing orientation is bi-directional. The piece should include a performance reenacting the dynamics of Fragonard's The Swing, 1767, and Duchamp's ...
W4557
25.05.2011
Gravity - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
Gravity Proposal for the Pantheon Rome, Italy ...
Gravity Proposal for the Pantheon Rome, Italy ...
W4406
25.05.2011
Incongruous Runaway Homes, to run away with or to run to. - Eleanna Horiti
WWW
Incongruous Runaway Homes, to run away with or to run to. A formulation of childhood visions The Runaway Roulotte was to be made of wooden planks and mud! A bicycle wheel with pedals attached to it and cart wheels. Its most important feature was tha ...
Incongruous Runaway Homes, to run away with or to run to. A formulation of childhood visions The Runaway Roulotte was to be made of wooden planks and mud! A bicycle wheel with pedals attached to it and cart wheels. Its most important feature was tha ...
W4344
24.05.2011
Proposal for installation March 2010 - John Kenny
WWW
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
Proposal for installation March 2010 ...
W4837
08.08.2012
Museum Eddy Roos - Eddy Roos
WWW
W4552
25.05.2011
Untitled - Charmi Gada Shah
WWW
Title: ‘Untitled’ Description: This is a sketch for a site-specific work wherein the façade of a gallery in Mumbai is superimposed by another façade in London, constructed by means of a photographic reference taken by the artist many years ago ...
Title: ‘Untitled’ Description: This is a sketch for a site-specific work wherein the façade of a gallery in Mumbai is superimposed by another façade in London, constructed by means of a photographic reference taken by the artist many years ago ...
W3654
15.05.2011
nigal goodship
WWW
They say, art no longer produces beauty, she produces meaning. I say, one cannot paint a picture or make an image of a woman and not deal with the concept of beauty. Marlene Dumas Assignment 5fp001 Contemporary photographic practice, The Venus project ...
They say, art no longer produces beauty, she produces meaning. I say, one cannot paint a picture or make an image of a woman and not deal with the concept of beauty. Marlene Dumas Assignment 5fp001 Contemporary photographic practice, The Venus project ...
W3935
20.05.2011
John Roloff
WWW
The works presented here are part of a large group of 'unrealized' projects engaging landscape, metaphor, geologic/human time and natural systems. The descriptive text for each project submitted is included with each image. ...
The works presented here are part of a large group of 'unrealized' projects engaging landscape, metaphor, geologic/human time and natural systems. The descriptive text for each project submitted is included with each image. ...
U9882
23.01.1964
Time Magazine Cover - Robert Rauschenberg
Unbuilt Roads
Solvent transfer, watercolor, pencil, crayon and tape on illustration board. 13 3/4" x 9 7/3" Robert Rauschenberg was asked to do a cover for Time Magazine to celebrate the opening of the World's Fair at Flushing Meadows in New York City, in 1964. The ...
Solvent transfer, watercolor, pencil, crayon and tape on illustration board. 13 3/4" x 9 7/3" Robert Rauschenberg was asked to do a cover for Time Magazine to celebrate the opening of the World's Fair at Flushing Meadows in New York City, in 1964. The ...
W3727
17.05.2011
Achtung” (Watch out!)  - Doris Koch
WWW
Since 1991, Doris Koch has been producing participatory projects in public spaces. In 2006, the project “Achtung” (Watch out!) was developed for the Stadtpark (city park) in Dessau in dialogue with the residents, and cancelled in Spring 2007. In the c ...
Since 1991, Doris Koch has been producing participatory projects in public spaces. In 2006, the project “Achtung” (Watch out!) was developed for the Stadtpark (city park) in Dessau in dialogue with the residents, and cancelled in Spring 2007. In the c ...
W5316
18.10.2012
Contingency Zone - Thiago Parizi
WWW
The project entitled “Contingency Zone” consist of 12 flagpoles, measuring 600cm tall by 6.5cm of diameter, and twelve flags, measuring 220 cm by 100cm, stamped with the repeating pattern [in the colors black and yellow] of the “caution” tapes ...
The project entitled “Contingency Zone” consist of 12 flagpoles, measuring 600cm tall by 6.5cm of diameter, and twelve flags, measuring 220 cm by 100cm, stamped with the repeating pattern [in the colors black and yellow] of the “caution” tapes ...
W4404
25.05.2011
The Interopticon  - Guleah - Guy Ben-Ari and Leah Wolff
WWW
The Interopticon The Interopticon is a proposal for an alternative processes of observation and learning in the shape of a conceptual discursive platform. It regards the subject as an object of research that is simultaneously absorbing knowledge and bei ...
The Interopticon The Interopticon is a proposal for an alternative processes of observation and learning in the shape of a conceptual discursive platform. It regards the subject as an object of research that is simultaneously absorbing knowledge and bei ...
W5448
20.10.2012
BUILDING DRAWING I: “THE LITTLE EASE” - Ann Daly
WWW
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING I: “THE LITTLE EASE” Room within a room within a room. Smallest internal room is a plywood box, upright, approx. 6.5 ft tall and 3ft. wide. This internal box is drilled with 'viewholes' at various po ...
Ann Daly adaly@aya.yale.edu BUILDING DRAWING I: “THE LITTLE EASE” Room within a room within a room. Smallest internal room is a plywood box, upright, approx. 6.5 ft tall and 3ft. wide. This internal box is drilled with 'viewholes' at various po ...
W3845
19.05.2011
Interactive Playground - GH Hovagimyan
WWW
Abstract The interactive playground project consists of three works. 1. An interactive Seesaw 2. A jump rope machine 3. An interactive spiral slide The interactive seesaw has recently been completed as part of an LMCC residency at Governor’s ...
Abstract The interactive playground project consists of three works. 1. An interactive Seesaw 2. A jump rope machine 3. An interactive spiral slide The interactive seesaw has recently been completed as part of an LMCC residency at Governor’s ...
U9711
01.01.1989
2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin
Unbuilt Roads
A competition won in 1989 Tower One: was proposed to sit in a roundabout next to the Chicago river .. 65' (feet) in height, the base an octagonal cast iron construction stands on a slightly mounded cast rubber base ... eight triangular beams thrust upw ...
A competition won in 1989 Tower One: was proposed to sit in a roundabout next to the Chicago river .. 65' (feet) in height, the base an octagonal cast iron construction stands on a slightly mounded cast rubber base ... eight triangular beams thrust upw ...
W4157
23.05.2011
UNDERGLOW - Carol Salmanson
WWW
UNDERGLOW Carol Salmanson PROJECT DESCRIPTION Underglow, a light installation inside six bays of a sidewalk shed, uses multiple kinds of light and reflective materials to create a many-hued, glowing experience. By marrying technology to aesthetic ...
UNDERGLOW Carol Salmanson PROJECT DESCRIPTION Underglow, a light installation inside six bays of a sidewalk shed, uses multiple kinds of light and reflective materials to create a many-hued, glowing experience. By marrying technology to aesthetic ...