BFFM

BFFM allows wearers to send and receive audio files to and from their peers without any legal repercussions. A necklace acts as an FM radio transmitter, transmitting sound for the radius of a few city blocks. Four other necklaces are radio receivers, complete with built-in speakers. A message from the transmitting necklace is broadcast to the receiving friends and those around them, creating a system of temporal file sharing. Like the boom boxes of the 1980s, the necklace is an attention-getting device and can play audio in public places. Like a friendship bracelet, the necklace is a wearable visual indication of intimacy. However, it also provides an audio connection from friend to friend.

Rachelle Beaudoin, Jeanne Jo and Islay Taylor, BFFM, necklaces with FM radio transmitter, FM receivers, speakers, conductive thread, 2007. (© Rachelle Beaudoin, Jeanne Jo and Islay Taylor. Photo © Santanu Majumdar.)