CAgecircle: composition for an exhibition
A chance-determined exhibition drawing on items from nearly two dozen collections at Bard College, produced in partnership with Bard College Stevenson Library
June 27–July 31, 2026
Cagecircle: Composition for an Exhibition uses John Cage’s methods of using “chance operations” as a tool for curation to bring together a variety of archival items from multiple collections into an unexpected cabinet of curiosities. The exhibition, opening for Upstate Art Weekend at Bard College’s Stevenson Library, takes inspiration from Cage’s Museumcircle, first created in 1991 in Munich as a test for the much larger, posthumously installed exhibition, Rolywholyover: A Circus.
For Museumcircle, Cage asked institutions within the vicinity of the exhibition to supply lists of representative items from their collections that they would be willing to loan. For that exhibition, 19 institutions each provided lists of 10 objects. Chance operations were then used to select one item from each list. The result was a “John Cage” exhibition that nonetheless had no works by Cage in it, though fully represented his creative methods. Cagecircle will select from 21 lists, including items from the John Cage Trust itself.
[image: John Cage, R/17 (Where R = Ryoanji), 1988 ©John Cage Trust
April 23rd
Open curatorial Workshop
Join us to learn about how to use Cagean chance procedures and be the first to know which items will appear in the final Cagecircle exhibition.
Save the Date!
Exhibition Opening and Free Performance
1pm, Saturday, June 17th, featuring an immersive realization of John Cage’s iconic “Lecture on Nothing” performed surrounding the audience, simultaneously with a performance of Cage’s “Extended Lullaby”
Directions to Stevenson Library: 1 Library Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, 12504. This will take you to a gravel road behind the library, where you can park.
From there, enter the library on the lower level (it doesn't look like a public entrance, but it is!). Then go up to the main floor using the elevator or stairs.
Collections included in Cagecircle:
American Symphony Orchestra Library/TŌN
Architecture Department
Bard Alumni/ae Collection
Bard College Archives
Bard Graduate Center Study, NYC
Bard High School Early College, Queens
Bard Music Festival
Building & Grounds
CCS Bard Library & Archives
Center for Experimental Humanities
Center for Indigenous Studies
Ecology Field Station
Film and Electronic Arts Department
Fisher Studio Arts
Hannah Arendt Center
John Cage Trust
Montgomery Place
Rose Laboratories
Smolny Archive
Stevenson Library Archives & Special Collections
Peter Serkin Collection