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.

Der New-Babyloner - Constant

den anonymen Tod ausstellen - Gregor Schneider

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

Tower Cranes, Paris  - Tadashi Kawamata

Projet pour la Place Saint Léger à Chambery  - Erik Dietman

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

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

Just Before Dawn - David Lamelas

Unrealized project for Tate Gallery + ICA, 1969 - Gilbert and George

d'un projet dédié aux victimes de la Shoah. - Christian Boltanski

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
#
Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W4569
25.05.2011
Giraffe  - Eduardo Villanueva
WWW
Giraffe A film idea by Eduardo Villanueva. The main idea depart from one story to creat another one. The piece is simple and consist in release a Giraffe in the streets of Venice, Italy and make a film with the Giraffe interacting with the people and ...
Giraffe A film idea by Eduardo Villanueva. The main idea depart from one story to creat another one. The piece is simple and consist in release a Giraffe in the streets of Venice, Italy and make a film with the Giraffe interacting with the people and ...
W4568
25.05.2011
"Wire Tap"  - Dianne Bowen and Heins Kim
WWW
"Wire Tap" physical study I, 2008 2,500 steel dress pins, 200 feet heavy gauge copper phone wire, 150 feet steel elevator cable, 5 canvas panels, roughly 4,000 feet of varied data and thin phone wire, 200 feet plastic IV tubing, plastic bubbles, astr ...
"Wire Tap" physical study I, 2008 2,500 steel dress pins, 200 feet heavy gauge copper phone wire, 150 feet steel elevator cable, 5 canvas panels, roughly 4,000 feet of varied data and thin phone wire, 200 feet plastic IV tubing, plastic bubbles, astr ...
W3735
18.05.2011
Revelation - Felippe Moraes
WWW
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
The installation “Revelation” consisits in a room where everything is White and with a White marble sand in the floor. A white peacock inhabits the room where it can freely walk over the furniture, the objects and those continuously mod ...
W4068
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 ...
W4904
13.08.2012
Cornelia Lauf
WWW
Many years ago, I submitted a curatorial project to an open call from Vienna's Generali Foundation. My idea was to realize one dinner in the exhibition space with all the "right" people, as gallerists and museum curators of note know how to do with such p ...
Many years ago, I submitted a curatorial project to an open call from Vienna's Generali Foundation. My idea was to realize one dinner in the exhibition space with all the "right" people, as gallerists and museum curators of note know how to do with such p ...
W4154
23.05.2011
Talk to the Other Side - KOLEKTIVA
WWW
Talk to the Other Side Unrealized project in public space by KOLEKTIVA (Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar, Metka Zupanič) The idea for the project was developed during the Editing residency in Gorizia at the border between Italy and Slovenia. The initial ...
Talk to the Other Side Unrealized project in public space by KOLEKTIVA (Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar, Metka Zupanič) The idea for the project was developed during the Editing residency in Gorizia at the border between Italy and Slovenia. The initial ...
W4488
25.05.2011
Sketch railway viaduct - Katrin Korfmann
WWW
Sketch railway viaduct – Tiel, the Netherlands, 2009 The viaduct is located at the entrance of the city of Tiel. One passes it after leaving the highway and before entering the city. The viaduct shows a various mix of architecture with different styles ...
Sketch railway viaduct – Tiel, the Netherlands, 2009 The viaduct is located at the entrance of the city of Tiel. One passes it after leaving the highway and before entering the city. The viaduct shows a various mix of architecture with different styles ...
W10273
10.04.2014
Monument to the Iraq War Dead - Scott Sorli
WWW
Conservative estimates are that over one hundred thousand men, women, and children died in the Iraq War. Weapons of mass destruction that were used as justification for this illegal war were launched by the Americans and the British forces themselves. The ...
Conservative estimates are that over one hundred thousand men, women, and children died in the Iraq War. Weapons of mass destruction that were used as justification for this illegal war were launched by the Americans and the British forces themselves. The ...
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 ...
W3779
18.05.2011
Docks - Dina Weiss
WWW
By highlighting these remnants of the past, “Docks’ aims to animate history. The significance and impact of the past commerce in the water ways of the city and highlighting the beauty of the discarded and unused residues. ...
By highlighting these remnants of the past, “Docks’ aims to animate history. The significance and impact of the past commerce in the water ways of the city and highlighting the beauty of the discarded and unused residues. ...
W3725
17.05.2011
"The Well" by day and "The Cave" by night - Sissel Kardel
WWW
A four story tower, in the shape of a standing female figure, facade like that of a log cabin which you can enter and explore. Sissel Kardel works from documentary photographs that correspond to visions in which a contemplative female figure is set a ...
A four story tower, in the shape of a standing female figure, facade like that of a log cabin which you can enter and explore. Sissel Kardel works from documentary photographs that correspond to visions in which a contemplative female figure is set a ...
W5240
09.10.2012
Stephanie Douet
WWW
Imagine a long, long, long rectangle, rolled up into the smallest tube. Take the end of the rectangle and begin to unfurl it. As it peels open, three small rectangles cut randomly into its surface swing open, at random angles. With no effort of arrangemen ...
Imagine a long, long, long rectangle, rolled up into the smallest tube. Take the end of the rectangle and begin to unfurl it. As it peels open, three small rectangles cut randomly into its surface swing open, at random angles. With no effort of arrangemen ...
W4242
24.05.2011
HUMAN CONTACT EXERCISE #1 - Annabelle Craven-Jones
WWW
HUMAN CONTACT EXERCISE #1 Online digital text 2010 ongoing This project is an experiment exploring unknown limits. It exists as an online instruction in the minds of a potentially unlimited number of participants. Who they are and how they will ...
HUMAN CONTACT EXERCISE #1 Online digital text 2010 ongoing This project is an experiment exploring unknown limits. It exists as an online instruction in the minds of a potentially unlimited number of participants. Who they are and how they will ...
W3881
19.05.2011
Ned James & the Swifts
WWW
Proposal: Part 1. Use the artists fee to place 1000 £1 bets on the races during St Patrick’s Day. Dressed as the embodiment of St Patrick placing the bets one after another will take all day and create a performance of endurance and intrigue. T ...
Proposal: Part 1. Use the artists fee to place 1000 £1 bets on the races during St Patrick’s Day. Dressed as the embodiment of St Patrick placing the bets one after another will take all day and create a performance of endurance and intrigue. T ...
W4076
23.05.2011
Reuniting ‘Between You & I - Sara Brannan
WWW
In 2007 Anthony McCall produced a limited edition number of prints (150) to coincide with his exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. What I’d like to do in this work is try to reunite as many as possible of the prints to be exhibited togethe ...
In 2007 Anthony McCall produced a limited edition number of prints (150) to coincide with his exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. What I’d like to do in this work is try to reunite as many as possible of the prints to be exhibited togethe ...
W4612
25.05.2011
Review of Unrealized projects by Cornford & Cross Dave Beech - Cornford & Cross
WWW
Review of Unrealized projects by Cornford & Cross Dave Beech Art Monthly Dec 2002 — Jan 2003 ...
Review of Unrealized projects by Cornford & Cross Dave Beech Art Monthly Dec 2002 — Jan 2003 ...
W5432
20.10.2012
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) - Tamar Lederberg
WWW
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) Art constitutes a tool for contending with difficult psychological situations. A situation of loss and pain generates creative forces. An illness triggered fervent creativity in my mother. The trauma following her il ...
Sheli Lehadpasa (Mine for printing) Art constitutes a tool for contending with difficult psychological situations. A situation of loss and pain generates creative forces. An illness triggered fervent creativity in my mother. The trauma following her il ...
W3946
20.05.2011
Balancing Act - Tricia McLaughlin
WWW
This living space design is for two people trying to balance their lives together. Every movement in this precarious space shifts that balance. Fortunately the furniture is all hinged. Even when the floor is falling out from under you, the basic amenities ...
This living space design is for two people trying to balance their lives together. Every movement in this precarious space shifts that balance. Fortunately the furniture is all hinged. Even when the floor is falling out from under you, the basic amenities ...
W5070
05.09.2012
Unterirdischer Birkenwald / Subterranean Birch Forest - Römer + Römer
WWW
Unterirdischer Birkenwald / Subterranean Birch Forest Unrealized: Land Art Project Realized: Print of Wallpaper (1.80 m x 150 m) RÖMER + RÖMER, 2005 „Unterirdischer Birkenwald”
 Als Landartprojekt planten RÖMER & RÖMER den Bau eines Deich ...
Unterirdischer Birkenwald / Subterranean Birch Forest Unrealized: Land Art Project Realized: Print of Wallpaper (1.80 m x 150 m) RÖMER + RÖMER, 2005 „Unterirdischer Birkenwald”
 Als Landartprojekt planten RÖMER & RÖMER den Bau eines Deich ...
W4359
25.05.2011
bicefaliKo
WWW
Due to the vast number of building projects after fhe fall of the Berlin wall, German Reunification and the consequent transfer of the German government to Berlin there arose many debates, often heated, about the relationship between town and its evolut ...
Due to the vast number of building projects after fhe fall of the Berlin wall, German Reunification and the consequent transfer of the German government to Berlin there arose many debates, often heated, about the relationship between town and its evolut ...
W4526
25.05.2011
« game of survival in a cold store »  - Nathalie Talec
WWW
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
The « game of survival in a cold store » ( 1985 ) UNREALIZED PROJECT ARTIST’S STATEMENT I have always approached art as if it were an adventure story, adapting a screenplay, composing a score, or as the heroic experience of radical disobedience. ...
W5401
20.10.2012
Sculpture in a park - Alexandros Kaklamanos
WWW
Abstract of the Project Proposal Sculpture in a park During 2010-2011, a thorough research is conducted on the vortex. Now, a need is emerged to create a sculpture that will produce the vortex in a natural way, without using any electro mechanical assi ...
Abstract of the Project Proposal Sculpture in a park During 2010-2011, a thorough research is conducted on the vortex. Now, a need is emerged to create a sculpture that will produce the vortex in a natural way, without using any electro mechanical assi ...
W4515
25.05.2011
Viktor Timofeev
WWW
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
In this painting I have "created" a triumphal arch constructed out of 13 worker-housing units, stacked precariously and defying the laws of physics. While this village/monument is rendered to appear structurally sound, its context is most certainly utopia ...
W4887
10.08.2012
Caravan Tour - An Inverted World - Ann Messner
WWW
caravan tour — an inverted world A Proposal for a Transportable Camera Obscura for the Courts of Lower Manhattan The Lower Manhattan court buildings in their neoclassical grandeur and scale endure as visual tropes of the solidity of the power of justice ...
caravan tour — an inverted world A Proposal for a Transportable Camera Obscura for the Courts of Lower Manhattan The Lower Manhattan court buildings in their neoclassical grandeur and scale endure as visual tropes of the solidity of the power of justice ...
U9668
21.02.1997
Niemandsland - Hans Haacke
Unbuilt Roads
Eine Kreisfläche von ca. 30m Durchmesser ist auf dem offenen zum Ministerium für Bildung und Wiesenschaft und dem Ministerium für Justiz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland gehörenden ebenen Gelände in Bonn-BadGodesberg zu markieren, wenn möglich auf d ...
Eine Kreisfläche von ca. 30m Durchmesser ist auf dem offenen zum Ministerium für Bildung und Wiesenschaft und dem Ministerium für Justiz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland gehörenden ebenen Gelände in Bonn-BadGodesberg zu markieren, wenn möglich auf d ...
W5091
10.09.2012
Hortus d'Epe - Harald Schole
WWW
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...
Hortus d'Epe An innovative artproject related to new infrastructure in Epe. Commission CBK Arnhem and the city Epe 2005, proposal exhibition in CBK Arnhem titled 'the idea generator' Some old mansions nearby have beautiful French gardens. A ne ...