Cool Hunting

Giant screens loom over Harvard Square (below), a pedestrian thoroughfare that's an integral part of the Boston metropolitan area, displaying avant-garde works of video art by established and up-and-coming artists from around the world. Updated monthly and cleverly named Lumen Eclipse, it's no insular clique. In fact, Lumen is actively seeking submissions from artists on its website, even going as far as offering a $2,000 a-month stipend for chosen works.

It's no surprise that the creators chose Harvard Square as the location. Since its founding nearly 400 years ago, it has remained an epicenter of counter-cultural ideas and events ranging from colonial revolutionaries in the 1700s to the coffee-house folk scene in the early 1960s. An integral part of the Boston metro area, it's a destination in its own right and with its close proximity to Harvard University and MIT it is one of the foremost intellectual centers in North America.

Oliver Larich (top left) and Hiraki Sawa (top right) are just two of the eight artist that will be exhibited during the November showcase. For those outside of Boston, the Lumen Eclipse project boasts a rich online archive of works from its past and upcoming featured artists.