In December 1971 Elena Asins, born 1940, passed through the Madrid Computing Center for the first time in 1966, a space where new technologies touched the art of making. There, among others, Eusebio Sempere and Jose Maria Lopez Yturralde crossed paths with experimental ideas.
Women were a rarity. Aside from Asins, there were only a few other figures in Seville, quiet names that rarely extended their reach. The momentum to broaden their presence faded too quickly. Asins left for Stuttgart, where she connected directly with real computers, and then sought opportunities in New York on a scholarship. There she sharpened her command of the machines for three formative years before returning to Spain.
This journey becomes a focal point in discussions at the event Elena Asins and the Computing Center, a dialogue about a period and a context. The current exhibition, The Howling Wind, unfolds with a tireless whistle and runs from today through Thursday at the Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art MACA. [Citation: MACA exhibition notes]
Aramis López, an art critic and co-author of University of Madrid Computing Center (1968-1973), with Jaime Munarriz as program coordinator, leads the program that opens with a conversation on the mathematical method and the geometric artists who contributed to the scene.
First step
Elena Asins created early works in this vein during the 1980s, using modest tools yet achieving meaningful results. The core idea was clear even then: the technology did not define the art, it was a means to understand what machines are for. They do not replace the artist; they extend capability and enable new modes of creation, says López.
Art historians and curators emphasize that the dialogue between artist and machine was a collaborative effort, one that opened doors for sculpture, video, and graphic expression. The work stood as a testament to experimentation even when tools were limited. [Citation: López interview excerpt]
One participant notes that Elena felt the urge to craft new geometric forms, even if the language to express them through machines was not fully ready. A conversation with Capi led to algorithmic development that translates data into novel shapes, guiding Elena as she explored sculpture, video, and graphics.
Tomorrow, at the same time, Aramis López and Jaime Munáriz will present their books and discuss how work unfolded at the Computing Center, highlighting Sempere and Abel Martín as pivotal figures in that era.
Ignacio Gomez de Liaño will close the discourse by speaking with López about the more personal aspects of Asins. Gomez de Liaño was a close friend who spent years with her, visiting often at her home.
If there is a hallmark that distinguishes Asins, it is the refusal to seek personal fame. She focused on the work, on producing intelligent results, and on sharing happiness through art. She aimed to gift art to the world in a way that made people feel uplifted. López reflects on this as a guiding motive: art meant to bring joy to those who encounter it.
In reflecting on Elena Asins, the narrative underscores a producer of ideas who valued creation over proclamation and who leveraged technology as a partner in artistic exploration. The dialogue between artist, machine, and audience remains a guiding thread through the history of new media, offering a lens into the evolving relationship between computation and creativity. [Citation: curatorial notes]