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.

Notebook Page: Home in the Form of a Banana with Garage,  - Claes Oldenburg

Der New-Babyloner - Constant

PROJEKT - Ulrich Rückreim

Prima del 73 - Fabio Mauri

Double Exposure 1995-6  - Dan Graham

The insurer - Fabrice Hybert

Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition - Richard Serra and Frank Gehry

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

Uncompleted 1966 - and on  - John Armleder

<A Public Misery Message> - Critical Art Ensemble

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4519
25.05.2011
Gdansk, 2011-05-25 - Malgorzata Lisiewicz
WWW
Gdansk, 2011-05-25 In response to your call for unrealized projects I would like to submit the two from my archives: PROJECT no.1: The submission being as a response to the call for exhibition projects organized on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversar ...
Gdansk, 2011-05-25 In response to your call for unrealized projects I would like to submit the two from my archives: PROJECT no.1: The submission being as a response to the call for exhibition projects organized on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversar ...
W4007
22.05.2011
BEGGARS' BANQUET - Alessandro Rolandi
WWW
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
A group of 8-10 performance artists dressed as beggars and actually experience for several days the experience of begging in the street. A gallery sets up a show for a new cutting edge unknown artist, whose work consists into hanging to the walls forms o ...
W4590
25.05.2011
Feniksi - Feniksi
WWW
From: Feniksi Re: The Artist’s Heart for Art-Historians, Curators and Art-Critics A Quitting Proposal This proposal has derived from a fond desire to quit being an artist. It has been for some time ...
From: Feniksi Re: The Artist’s Heart for Art-Historians, Curators and Art-Critics A Quitting Proposal This proposal has derived from a fond desire to quit being an artist. It has been for some time ...
W5156
24.09.2012
Packet Switching - Joelle Dietrick + Owen Mundy
WWW
Packet Switching is an ongoing body of work by Joelle Dietrick and Owen Mundy that visualizes architecture as fragments affected by economic and communications systems. A series of related prints and animations are available for the exhibition. ...
Packet Switching is an ongoing body of work by Joelle Dietrick and Owen Mundy that visualizes architecture as fragments affected by economic and communications systems. A series of related prints and animations are available for the exhibition. ...
W4579
25.05.2011
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT - Annita Koutsonanou | Evy Tsolaki | Maria Spaniola
WWW
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT …I thought of a maze of mazes, of a sinuous, ever growing maze which would take in both past and future and would somehow involve the stars [..]. I thought that a man might be an enemy of other men, of the different moment of other ...
URBAN ENTANGLEMENT …I thought of a maze of mazes, of a sinuous, ever growing maze which would take in both past and future and would somehow involve the stars [..]. I thought that a man might be an enemy of other men, of the different moment of other ...
W4825
07.08.2012
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice - Andrea Geyer
WWW
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
Solemnly Proclaimed or how to activate justice. Iqaluit, Nunavut 2009 Seed funding for this project was provided by Artmatters Foundation in 2008/2009 which allowed for the initial research trip. Upon return from it, I had some tentative conversations ...
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 ...
W3566
12.05.2011
Lisa Gorton
WWW
Two images taken in a pristine gallery space. Meant to act as a catalyst for an investigation into space, place and the role of the body within this. Tried to do a performance but became much more about being ‘alive’ rather than ‘live’. ...
Two images taken in a pristine gallery space. Meant to act as a catalyst for an investigation into space, place and the role of the body within this. Tried to do a performance but became much more about being ‘alive’ rather than ‘live’. ...
U9673
01.05.1981
WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum
Unbuilt Roads
Extracts from an unpublished interview with Michael Archer for Phaidon press: ...Around the same period I made a proposal for the New Contemporaries exhibition which was going to be held at the ICA. In those days the toilets were on either side of the ...
Extracts from an unpublished interview with Michael Archer for Phaidon press: ...Around the same period I made a proposal for the New Contemporaries exhibition which was going to be held at the ICA. In those days the toilets were on either side of the ...
W4145
23.05.2011
This England - Cornford & Cross
WWW
For the Times/Artangel commissions, we proposed to build a 50-metre section of concrete ‘flyover’ in Green Park, London. Emerging from the trees would have been an imposing and apparently purposeful structure, a sweeping arc supported on tall piers. Y ...
For the Times/Artangel commissions, we proposed to build a 50-metre section of concrete ‘flyover’ in Green Park, London. Emerging from the trees would have been an imposing and apparently purposeful structure, a sweeping arc supported on tall piers. Y ...
W3550
12.05.2011
Diary Project 2011 - Anna-Marya Tompa
WWW
I have been working with a series of images in which I merge drawings with photographs. In some instants the drawing has a direct relationship, a one-to-one interpretation of the same image, one through my "drawing" eye, the other through the photographi ...
I have been working with a series of images in which I merge drawings with photographs. In some instants the drawing has a direct relationship, a one-to-one interpretation of the same image, one through my "drawing" eye, the other through the photographi ...
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. ...
U9303
01.06.1990
PROPOSAL FOR SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION, IN PUBLIC - Chris Burden
Unbuilt Roads
I propose that a typical working fisherman's boat 30 to 50 feet in length be attached to the side of the new Seattle Art Museum building. The boat's bow would point skyward, it's keel resting along one side of the building . A cable from the roof to the b ...
I propose that a typical working fisherman's boat 30 to 50 feet in length be attached to the side of the new Seattle Art Museum building. The boat's bow would point skyward, it's keel resting along one side of the building . A cable from the roof to the b ...
W4169
24.05.2011
Apocalypse Wave  - Mitya Nesterov & Lera Nibiru
WWW
Apocalypse Wave On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation was horrible, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake, the Haitian government reported that an estimated ...
Apocalypse Wave On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation was horrible, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake, the Haitian government reported that an estimated ...
W3616
13.05.2011
Fountion of Steam - Scott Hillman
WWW
This was a project i designed for a sculpture park, as a water element of such.. The owner didn't want a water feature and rejected it. As such it was never implimented though i made an estimate for around 2000.00 to build. The idea of it quite simply ...
This was a project i designed for a sculpture park, as a water element of such.. The owner didn't want a water feature and rejected it. As such it was never implimented though i made an estimate for around 2000.00 to build. The idea of it quite simply ...
W3964
21.05.2011
THE LIBRARY - Liliana Gelman
WWW
The library is a project about books and readers. It consist of two parts, one is the photographic register of books rescued from the street, the beach, or even from the garbage, over my years of immigrant in Israel. los libros de la biblioteca no tie ...
The library is a project about books and readers. It consist of two parts, one is the photographic register of books rescued from the street, the beach, or even from the garbage, over my years of immigrant in Israel. los libros de la biblioteca no tie ...
U9610
01.01.1988
Tulips for Amsterdam - Isa Genzken
Unbuilt Roads
Auf dem Wege nach Amsterdam sollten wir 30 meter hohe stahltulpen im würde leicht Schwingend die Autofahrer. Links und rechts oder Autobahn begrußen. (Jede Blüte in ihre eigenen farbe) (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Die A ...
Auf dem Wege nach Amsterdam sollten wir 30 meter hohe stahltulpen im würde leicht Schwingend die Autofahrer. Links und rechts oder Autobahn begrußen. (Jede Blüte in ihre eigenen farbe) (eventually reasons why the work has not been realised) Die A ...
W4500
25.05.2011
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' - Baiju Parthan
WWW
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' An unrealized project from 2008 Conceived in March 2008, this is a partly realized project, which I was not able to realize in its full potential due to various practical constraints. From lack of funding, to not having t ...
'SYNCYTIUM / COSMOPOLIS' An unrealized project from 2008 Conceived in March 2008, this is a partly realized project, which I was not able to realize in its full potential due to various practical constraints. From lack of funding, to not having t ...
W5428
20.10.2012
The Line  - Bindu Mehra
WWW
The Line In 2002, there were communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Ahmedabad in India. According to official estimates, 1044 people were killed in the violence. Another 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed ...
The Line In 2002, there were communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Ahmedabad in India. According to official estimates, 1044 people were killed in the violence. Another 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed ...
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. ...
W5234
09.10.2012
Chocolate Video - Erika Norris
WWW
PROJECT: CHOCOLATE VIDEO – September 2012 The idea is to create a video where I use the images of someone (myself) eating large quantities of chocolate. I then want to include images of my body interacting with chocolate. I am thinking of pouring cho ...
PROJECT: CHOCOLATE VIDEO – September 2012 The idea is to create a video where I use the images of someone (myself) eating large quantities of chocolate. I then want to include images of my body interacting with chocolate. I am thinking of pouring cho ...
W3604
13.05.2011
Nereida Garcia Ferraz
WWW
After the ruins of sities devastated by natural disasters and war, I began working in my studio with materials, cardboard, wood, light, and discarted objects, making structures that bring to mind, buildings and ancient cities, wells and theaters, stairs ...
After the ruins of sities devastated by natural disasters and war, I began working in my studio with materials, cardboard, wood, light, and discarted objects, making structures that bring to mind, buildings and ancient cities, wells and theaters, stairs ...
W3637
14.05.2011
lemeh42
WWW
Here are a couple of my two new illustrations. ...
Here are a couple of my two new illustrations. ...
W4863
09.08.2012
Zeitstück - Alexander Hahn
WWW
Zeitstück Video-Installation von Alexander Hahn, vers. Juni 05, 1996 Beschreibung Entstehung: Eingeladene Wettbewerbseingabe Kunst am Bau Neubau ETH Leonardstrasse Zürich. Nicht realisiert. Die Jury befürchtete damals, die Studenten könnten s ...
Zeitstück Video-Installation von Alexander Hahn, vers. Juni 05, 1996 Beschreibung Entstehung: Eingeladene Wettbewerbseingabe Kunst am Bau Neubau ETH Leonardstrasse Zürich. Nicht realisiert. Die Jury befürchtete damals, die Studenten könnten s ...
W3545
12.05.2011
GOLDEN - Deanne Butterworth
WWW
GOLDEN My investigations in dance stem from how an audience views a dancing body through their construction of narrative. GOLDEN will setup parameters for a narrative to exist in, but will not necessarily decide what the narrative shall be. It is not ...
GOLDEN My investigations in dance stem from how an audience views a dancing body through their construction of narrative. GOLDEN will setup parameters for a narrative to exist in, but will not necessarily decide what the narrative shall be. It is not ...
W5425
20.10.2012
Peace State of aWareness - Mo Abd-Ulla
WWW
Is peace an exceptional state? Is it fact that war breeds another war? Is war an inevitable destiny of mankind? This is a public art intervention working with and around the war monuments in London within global context of war and peace. Aiming to fr ...
Is peace an exceptional state? Is it fact that war breeds another war? Is war an inevitable destiny of mankind? This is a public art intervention working with and around the war monuments in London within global context of war and peace. Aiming to fr ...