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.

Monument to Democracy - Kounellis

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

Right-of-Privacy Release - Tony Oursler

"Free Space" - Michelangelo Pistoletto

Eislandschaft - P. Fischli und D. Weiss

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

654 THINGS from The United States - Edward Ruscha

Projekt für die Landschaft des Mont-de-Sene (Burgund) im Rahmen eines öffentlichen Auftrags des französischen Kultusministeriums - Markus Raetz

2 Architecture Towers - Robert Irwin

"Ileana, I love you" - Maurizo Cattelan

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick
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Date
Title
Source
Description
Tags
W3565
12.05.2011
Liquid Door (smoking underwater), 2010 - Isola and Norzi
WWW
Jacques Cousteau’s lifelong dream of living beneath the sea set artists Hilario Isola and Matteo Norzi to thinking about artworks as relics of the future. [this text was first commissioned to Isola and Norzi and published by ABITARE, (issue 501, A ...
Jacques Cousteau’s lifelong dream of living beneath the sea set artists Hilario Isola and Matteo Norzi to thinking about artworks as relics of the future. [this text was first commissioned to Isola and Norzi and published by ABITARE, (issue 501, A ...
W4861
09.08.2012
Aviation Memories - Alexander Hahn
WWW
Aviation Memories. Response to an 1986 open call for an installation proposal by Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. Instead of the usual sketches, I submitted a simulation of the proposed project on video tape using the Macintosh program Mac Draw and the Fair ...
Aviation Memories. Response to an 1986 open call for an installation proposal by Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. Instead of the usual sketches, I submitted a simulation of the proposed project on video tape using the Macintosh program Mac Draw and the Fair ...
W4548
25.05.2011
CHIASMA - Kristin Jones / Andrew Ginzel
WWW
CHIASMA Chiasma will be a contemplative work integrated with both the context and architecture of the University of Central Florida’s new Health Sciences campus, Tavistock Common. At the heart of the Common’s grand expanse, the elements that compri ...
CHIASMA Chiasma will be a contemplative work integrated with both the context and architecture of the University of Central Florida’s new Health Sciences campus, Tavistock Common. At the heart of the Common’s grand expanse, the elements that compri ...
W5344
18.10.2012
Lito Kattou & Leontios Toumpouris
WWW
The artist in his effort to acquire conscience of his identity addresses to the Other. The elliptic dimension of the Other does not induce the desired result, the fulfillment, the coverage of the void. He becomes aware of his inability to realize this des ...
The artist in his effort to acquire conscience of his identity addresses to the Other. The elliptic dimension of the Other does not induce the desired result, the fulfillment, the coverage of the void. He becomes aware of his inability to realize this des ...
W5023
31.08.2012
Rooted - John Gayer
WWW
ROOTED This unrealised project primarily exists in the imagination. It involves an extended performance that demands stasis and proposes an evolutionary shift. This shift could take centuries to happen. The idea, in part, derives from a time when I produ ...
ROOTED This unrealised project primarily exists in the imagination. It involves an extended performance that demands stasis and proposes an evolutionary shift. This shift could take centuries to happen. The idea, in part, derives from a time when I produ ...
D10803
09.09.2012
Untitled  - Theo Eshetu
DAAD
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 ...
W4877
09.08.2012
Dream Vessels - Beth Surdut
WWW
You may find my Dream Vessels Project at http://www.bethsurdut.com/dreamvesselsproject.htm When I posted the concept in 2007, artists and engineers contacted me expecting or hoping that I would provide funding, which is not the case. I hope. ...
You may find my Dream Vessels Project at http://www.bethsurdut.com/dreamvesselsproject.htm When I posted the concept in 2007, artists and engineers contacted me expecting or hoping that I would provide funding, which is not the case. I hope. ...
W4995
30.08.2012
Black Fountain - Maarten Daudeij
WWW
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
Title: Black Fountain Artist: Maarten Daudeij (The Netherlands, Australia) Year of origination of the idea: 2010 Concept: To colour the water in the Three Rivers Fountain on Victoria Square in the middle of Adelaide, South Australia black. Theme: The ...
W4511
25.05.2011
Big Pending Coloured Glass Pipe Organ - Tina Braegger
WWW
Big Pending Coloured Glass Pipe Organ (Unrealized, Mai 2011) (50m x 36m x 18m Pending Coloured Glass Pipe Organ, Uyuni salt desert, Bolivia) What (form): It has long since been an idea of mine to build a big pending pipe organ out of co ...
Big Pending Coloured Glass Pipe Organ (Unrealized, Mai 2011) (50m x 36m x 18m Pending Coloured Glass Pipe Organ, Uyuni salt desert, Bolivia) What (form): It has long since been an idea of mine to build a big pending pipe organ out of co ...
W3985
21.05.2011
Pisco Ruivo
WWW
Pisco Ruivo is a group of creative researchers founded by Eduardo Leitão & Joana Pinho Neves. We embrace book as the primarily subject of our work. We use it has support for the creation and recreation of covers and we search in its words new narratives. ...
Pisco Ruivo is a group of creative researchers founded by Eduardo Leitão & Joana Pinho Neves. We embrace book as the primarily subject of our work. We use it has support for the creation and recreation of covers and we search in its words new narratives. ...
W5459
20.10.2012
Temporary Projection Installations for the Survivors of Atrocities. - Gavin Halm
WWW
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
Summary: Listings of the names of survivors (and their extended families through the present) are projected upon the walls and surrounding grounds of sites where atrocities have taken, or are currently taking, place. The thousands of names could be projec ...
W10278
01.01.2010
The Saffron Dome - Gabriella Ciancimino
WWW
“The Saffron Dome” is a project created in 2010 for a sculptural work recalling classical pavilions, made of materials that remind of industrial sheds, surmounted by domes in which it is possible to grow typical aromatic plants of the place where the ...
“The Saffron Dome” is a project created in 2010 for a sculptural work recalling classical pavilions, made of materials that remind of industrial sheds, surmounted by domes in which it is possible to grow typical aromatic plants of the place where the ...
W3827
19.05.2011
Ephemeral - Tomasz Domanski
WWW
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
I call my "ice actions", consisting in placing objects in principal downtown squares, the Monuments of Time. I find this title appropriately noble, considering in whose honor they are erected. In each case, I seek an adequate form to celebrate time as wel ...
W5246
10.10.2012
Wrap buildings - Iain McPherson
WWW
Project: Wrap buildings. Everything is packaged, transport is branded, so how long before we wrap buildings? 2 mock ups of wrapped buildings in London and Tokyo. ...
Project: Wrap buildings. Everything is packaged, transport is branded, so how long before we wrap buildings? 2 mock ups of wrapped buildings in London and Tokyo. ...
W3620
14.05.2011
GORGES - JACQUELINE BELOTTI
WWW
“The lift is the most widely used means of transport in big cities. The metal box illuminated, panel with buttons and, in some cases, a mirror, gives the vertical displacement in a very simple way, and requires us to share our living space with stranger ...
“The lift is the most widely used means of transport in big cities. The metal box illuminated, panel with buttons and, in some cases, a mirror, gives the vertical displacement in a very simple way, and requires us to share our living space with stranger ...
W3843
19.05.2011
Pamela Harris
WWW
"When I was at art school, everyone else would make art and find the best parts and then try to cover up everything else so that was all you saw. I was fascinated by the part that didn't appear to be working and I'd keep working on that part until it took ...
"When I was at art school, everyone else would make art and find the best parts and then try to cover up everything else so that was all you saw. I was fascinated by the part that didn't appear to be working and I'd keep working on that part until it took ...
U9690
01.01.1995
Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal...  - Jenny Holzer
Unbuilt Roads
Title of the project: Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal, a lazer projection of Lustmord texts onto a 1913 Battle of nations Monument. (100yr in Leipzig, Germany anniversary of 1813 battle) Description: Jenny s ...
Title of the project: Untitled, modeled after the Leipzig Völkerschlachtdenkmal, a lazer projection of Lustmord texts onto a 1913 Battle of nations Monument. (100yr in Leipzig, Germany anniversary of 1813 battle) Description: Jenny s ...
W5337
18.10.2012
how to recall what never happened
WWW
The idea stem from Lis’81 – The International Drawing Biennale of Lisbon, which was expected to take place at the National Gallery of Modern Art of Belém, but ended up consumed in a fire, during its installation, the only thing left is the catalogue. ...
The idea stem from Lis’81 – The International Drawing Biennale of Lisbon, which was expected to take place at the National Gallery of Modern Art of Belém, but ended up consumed in a fire, during its installation, the only thing left is the catalogue. ...
W4574
25.05.2011
Flatten The Mountain Projects - Flatten The Mountain Projects
WWW
A: I liked the film idea initially. B: I'm glad you think the same. We can't sound desperate - I'm going to bed. A: Instead of a Birthday it should be a wedding where we marry together Loverage and Twice Born B: People watching us make work puts me a ...
A: I liked the film idea initially. B: I'm glad you think the same. We can't sound desperate - I'm going to bed. A: Instead of a Birthday it should be a wedding where we marry together Loverage and Twice Born B: People watching us make work puts me a ...
W3996
21.05.2011
Jana Leo de blas
WWW
SEX-ROOM / SEX BOOTH-Jana Leo-2001 Where is the Sex-Room? Straight to the end on your right. A table for ironing, a room for bath, another for the bed, a dinning-table, a Laundromat a place for the laundry, an exercise facility: a gym….Space named by ...
SEX-ROOM / SEX BOOTH-Jana Leo-2001 Where is the Sex-Room? Straight to the end on your right. A table for ironing, a room for bath, another for the bed, a dinning-table, a Laundromat a place for the laundry, an exercise facility: a gym….Space named by ...
W4638
25.05.2011
SITUTOPIK - DEHOVE Claire
WWW
SITUTOPIK L’école-cité de l’imaginaire et de la citoyenneté. Projet du 1 % ARTISTIQUE DU COLLEGE EUGENE VIGNE A BEAUCAIRE Claire Dehove avec Loraine Djidi ...
SITUTOPIK L’école-cité de l’imaginaire et de la citoyenneté. Projet du 1 % ARTISTIQUE DU COLLEGE EUGENE VIGNE A BEAUCAIRE Claire Dehove avec Loraine Djidi ...
W4625
25.05.2011
Ann LePore & Anibal Pella-Woo
WWW
Proposal for the Weehawken water tower. This collaborative project is an audio-visual installation for the Weehawken Water Tower. The Weehawken Water Tower stands to become one of the identifying visual landmarks of this diverse, dynamic and rapidly chang ...
Proposal for the Weehawken water tower. This collaborative project is an audio-visual installation for the Weehawken Water Tower. The Weehawken Water Tower stands to become one of the identifying visual landmarks of this diverse, dynamic and rapidly chang ...
W4894
10.08.2012
The Wave - Mac Adams
WWW
'The Wave' 1989. Proposal for the Merchant marines memorial off shore Battery Park New York City. More information can be found on. macadamsstudio.com ...
'The Wave' 1989. Proposal for the Merchant marines memorial off shore Battery Park New York City. More information can be found on. macadamsstudio.com ...
W3672
15.05.2011
An Island - jeroen doorenweerd
WWW
An Island' is a proposal for a large scale work in public space, commissioned by the province of North-Holland in the Netherlands. 'Kunstgebouw' was involved with the choice of artists. My proposal will not be realised. How many kubic metres of soil ca ...
An Island' is a proposal for a large scale work in public space, commissioned by the province of North-Holland in the Netherlands. 'Kunstgebouw' was involved with the choice of artists. My proposal will not be realised. How many kubic metres of soil ca ...
W4560
25.05.2011
The Reentry Project: Artificial Meteor Storms as Public Art  - Bill Dolson
WWW
Bill Dolson The Reentry Project: Artificial Meteor Storms as Public Art "Why is there no art in space, why do we have no exhibitions in the sky? Up to now we have left it up to war to light up the sky..." Otto Piene 1961 Reentry is a series of p ...
Bill Dolson The Reentry Project: Artificial Meteor Storms as Public Art "Why is there no art in space, why do we have no exhibitions in the sky? Up to now we have left it up to war to light up the sky..." Otto Piene 1961 Reentry is a series of p ...