On October 4th, a vernissage held concurrently in Second Life and in Brussels inaugurated that city's first art space devoted entirely to art made in electronic media. Located in central Brussels, iMAL (Interactive Media Art Lab) Center for Digital Cultures and Technology boasts a group of workshops at the disposal of resident artists as well as more than 400 square meters of public space for events and exhibitions. The facility opened both its real and virtual doors with a three-evening series of events, including the dual celebrations, as well as audio and visual performances by French artists Pascal Baltazar and Mathieu Chamagne, who are known for their digital sound works created with custom gestual interfaces, and a demonstration of Danish artist Sven Konig's instant video sampling software. Through October 14th, noted electronic music composer Kim Cascone is hosting a workshop titled 'Genetic Laptop Music' at iMAL. Each of the 15 participants in the project, equipped with a networked laptop running common audio software, perform a function within a composition process based on genetic selection. Audio is chosen from a 'gene' pool of open-source sound files, which are then recombined or 'killed' by participants. As the group of possible combinations narrows, a participatory audio work emerges. The workshop culminates with a public performance at the new iMAL space on October 14th. - William Hanley