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.

Unrealized Turtles 1967 - Joseph Grigely

Douglas Gordon - 5 year drive-by; proposal for a public artwork.

Progetto per Gerry Schum - Guiseppe Penone

Catwalk - Sylive Fleury

Messages to the Public - Nancy Spero

No title, as the project only reached proposal stage - Rikrit Tiravanija

Arrangement Stroom HCBK Den Haag - Ange Leccia

Nicht realisierte Projekte - Stefan Demary

"400" - Manfred Pernice

WATERWORKS - Mona Hatoum

Agency of Unrealised Projects
Logo by Liam Gillick