In the early Sixties Alison Knowles composed the Notations book of experimental composition with John Cage as well as Coeurs Volants, a print with Marcel Duchamp, both were published by Something Else Press. She also traveled and performed with the Fluxus group throughout Europe, Asia and United States. With Fluxus she made the Bean Rolls by invitation of George Maciunus, a canned book that appeared in the Whitney Museum exhibition The American Century (2000). The Big Book (1967), a walk in book installation was comprised of 8-ft. pages, moving around a center spine, permitting the spectator/reader to go inside the book. In 1968, The House of Dust, programmed with the help of composer Jim Tenney, was recognized as the first computer poem on record, winning her a Guggenheim Fellowship; she brought this work to CalArts while she taught there from 70-72.

On the occasion of Documenta X in Kassel, Germany, Knowles was appointed a Guest Professor. She taught at Sommerakademie in Salzburg in 1990. Her work was featured in the exhibition In the Spirit of Fluxus and Out of Actions, which toured from Los Angeles MOCA. In 2001, she performed and exhibited new paper and sound works at the Drawing Center in New York.

The Time Samples (2006) exhibition traveled from Venice to New York. In May of 2008 she performed three Event Scores at the Tate Long Weekend in London. Make a Salad drew a record audience of 3000 people. Her Event Threads series appeared for the first time in New York at Miguel Abreu Gallery, and has traveled to Genova and Berlin. She performed in Berne and Zurich in December 2008. In January 2009, she exhibited and performed in The 3rd Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989 at the Guggenheim Museum. For the duration of the exhibit she performed weekly with the Giant Beanturner.