Mother vs Mirror

In 2015, a group of six blindfolded children ranging from the ages of three to nine years old must identify their mother from a line-up of women. Fortunately, even without their sight, every single child finds their caretaker. According to the concept of Maternal-Newborn Bonding, “The connection made after birth directly affects both the mother and child physiologically, psychologically, and emotionally,” and even influences the child’s romantic and platonic attachment styles later in life (Barker, para.2). This, combined with the experiment above, seems to prove that the Maternal-Newborn bond is indestructible. Yet, Lacan claims that this connection is already destroyed, at around six to eight months old. This essay will argue that Jessika Kenney and Eyvind Kang’s piece uses vocals and instrumentation to explore the factors that motivate the infant to separate from their mother and the consequences of that choice, prompting listeners to question whether adulthood is worth the agony.

The instruments that serve as an introduction to the heart of this piece, the dynamic of the infant and the mother, are the violin and the cello (Kenny and Kang 0:00). The violin, being the smaller of the two, is the infant, and the cello, being the larger, is the mother. Despite their difference in size and maturity, it is important to note their similarities as well, in that the violin and the cello both have wooden bodies. Because the mother and the infant are both composed of the same organic matter, they have an incredibly close biological and emotional bond despite their age gap. That is not the only similarity they share, however, as those wooden bodies are also hollow. The hollow of the cello is meant to be the mother’s womb, but the hollow within the violin foreshadows the emptiness, or “lack”, that the infant will feel in the future.

The duet between the violin and the cello is layered over with the repetition of “Naa” (0:00), which mimics the baby’s voice, and a “hmmm” (0:22) reminiscent of the buzzing of locusts. This reference to the locust, and the collective interest of the locust hive, contrasts with the infant’s eventual desire to distinguish themselves as an individual. The “Naa’s” grow into a symphony of conversation between “Laa” and “Haa”, then “Haa” and “Naa”, then “Laa” and “Naa” (1:15). “Laa” mimics the mother’s singing to her child. Her mastery over her vocal chords is another sign of her experience and wisdom. The divide between her expertise and the infant’s gibberish highlights the infant’s complete dependence on her. The infant does not resent her for this, hence the presence of “haa”; a laughing sound that shows its contentment with this connection. As this conversation progresses, however, there is also an undercurrent of a frog croaking (1:20), which symbolizes that metamorphosis is imminent. Sooner or later, the infant will leave its mother behind, like a tadpole must leave the water behind, grow legs to go on land, and then form their own song.

This new song is introduced in the form of plucking strings (1:30), symbolizing the infant’s sudden awareness of its poor motor skills and the birth of its desire to develop those fine motor skills. On top of that, the infant is no longer content and begins to envy its considerably more well-developed mother, forcing out a resentful “Tch” (1:37) from between its clenched teeth. Furthermore, now that the infant has teeth, they no longer rely on their mother’s milk, another hint that autonomy is approaching.

The infant’s admiration for their mother sharpens into impatience as they cry “Ma” (1:56), calling out to her. Two shifts have occurred in one syllable: Firstly, the infant has realized that it is separate from the mother, which is why the mother now has a quasi-name. Secondly, the infant calls out to the mother because it knows the mother can provide them with their needs. The infant develops desire. When the mother, the cello (2:09), answers the infant’s call, she evolves from family to a symbol for anything that the infant considers to be the Other. The Real Stage has begun.

The infantb becomes increasingly confident with reality, experimenting with their voice and their teeth. Specifically, they play with the sound “Seh” (2:26), and it is not a coincidence that this sound is the first syllable of the words “Self” and “Symbolic”, because the infant is already powering through to the next phase. The listener hears the infant, or the violin, screeching with shock (2:35) when it encounters its image in the mirror and finds out that it can control its movements, but the screech itself is distinctly unpleasant and discordant, communicating to the listener that they have mistaken their reflection for their true Self and that this misrecognition, or as Lacan puts it, meconnaissance, has already done its damage. The screech is followed by a softer “Ooo” (2:48), a common expression of wonder and amazement. The infant is hypnotized after discovering their reflection, the Ideal I, becoming obsessed with this portrait of unification, and projecting themselves onto it. The infant thinks that it has gained completeness, like its mother, but it has only gained a mirage of that wholeness, and it is alienated from within.

The cello appears for the third time (2:48), telling the listener that the infant’s true Self has become the Other, just like the mother previously became the Other, and it alludes to how children “mirror” or learn how to behave from their parents, reminding the listener that this all started from the infant envying and wanting to gain their mother’s skill. The cello duets with a “shaa” (2:48) sound. This shows that the infant is now totally comfortable with their teeth, and their maturity, but then it begins to fear returning to the fragmented state from before their birth, expressed through the devolving of the “sh” into the default vowel for screaming: “aa.” Then all of the vocals and instrumentals are overpowered by "John" (4:03), which is the first complete word in this piece. This signifies that the infant believes they have command over language when language now has command over them. The infant has officially transitioned from the Imaginary Stage to the Symbolic stage. “John” is also a name, meaning the infant seeks to create their own identity.

The infant begins to cry "Eee" (4:13), echoing the screeching violin from before. However, since it is now a human voice doing the screeching, it means that the infant is now acutely aware of their misrecognition and they no longer know their true Self because of their mistake.

Then “Jane” (4:36) enters, thrusting the infant into the world of predefined social roles, particularly the division between the majority and the minority. In this case, the division is gender, in which the majority, the male, is represented by “John” and the minority, the female, is represented by “Jane”. Because the dialogue consists of one male name and one female name, it also represents heteronormativity and implies that those who do not fit neatly into these heterosexual gender roles will be punished. “John” and “Jane” are also strictly English names. This illustrates the hierarchy of languages, in which English is at the top, that arose from colonialism and Eurocentrism.

Kenny and Kang depict this psychological transition from the comfort of the Imaginary stage to the cruelty of the Real Stage with an audible transition in tone. The cello (4:45) appears for the final time, marking that the infant no longer associates the Other with the positive experience of their mother providing for them. On the contrary, the sound of the strings is rougher and more threatening, demonstrating that the Other is now a label that they associate with negative experiences like oppression. The infant defines their Self in terms of “not being the Other” because they want to defend themselves from the suffering that the Other endures, such as sexism, homophobia, and racism, at all costs.

Then, ironically, this is shot through with “Ma” (4:56) as the infant understands that they are also dependent on the Other as a mediator between themselves and their mirror image, just as they were dependent on their mother for their needs. The infant breaks down into a repeated “Waa” (4:56) that has two purposes. Firstly, it tells the listener that the infant longs to return to the Real stage when they were one with their mother. Secondly, it represents the infant's anguish over not being able to return to the Real Stage.

The plucking strings return, signaling that the infant has acquired the fine motor skills they longed for, but the pace is frantic to show that the infant feels more unfulfilled than ever. Those feelings of emptiness lead to anxiety, neurosis, and psychosis, represented by the fear-sound “aaaa" (5:32), but the “oooo” (5:32) of fascination still lingers, emphasizing that they still cannot let go of their obsession with the Ideal I. The two vowels blend together, then the "Aaa" eventually comes out on top once the infant understands that the Ideal I is unachievable. They regret letting themselves be lured out into this endless pursuit and want to flee back to the simplicity of being connected with their mother, when they shared a mutual love rather than a one-sided obsession with an unattainable version of themselves. The infant's terror evolves into a harsher sound (6:04) that combines the screeching "Aaa" of frustration and the lifelong unfulfillment of the hollow violin. The last sound we hear is a softer “aaa” (6:04), closing off the piece with the infant accepting that the lack is a part of integrating with reality.

Still, even after that acceptance, the longing to return to the true unity of the womb will never disappear. So, one may wonder, is it possible to preserve the Maternal-Newborn bond? Well, that depends, not on the infant’s ability to recognize their mother, but the infant’s ability to recognize themselves. There is a fine line between independence and imprisonment, and though the separation from the mother and the illusion of the mirror image is necessary, it is not necessary to substitute the genuine care between the mother and child with the infatuation with an Ideal I. Before opening oneself up to reality, one should first open their ears to Kenny and Kang, and Lacan’s, warning.

Works Cited

Barker, Jayne. “Maternal-Newborn Bonding Concept Analysis.” International Journal of Nursing & Clinical Practices, 06 April 2017, https://scholar.google.ca/scholar_url? url=https://twu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/11274/10338/2017VanSell6.pdf%3Fsequen ce%3D1&hl=en&sa=X&ei=95BFY8TLBoHeyQTi-ZqoCQ&scisig=AAGBfm0xPDk Kq9mMklXfNGme95a3neSt8g&oi=scholarr

Bjorkk, Kelsey. “Adorable Experiment Shows How Even Blindfolded Kids Always Know Their Mom.” InspireMore, 05 January 2022, https://www.inspiremore.com/ blindfolded-children-find-their-moms-in-adorable-experiment

The Face of the Earth. “Mirror Stage.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jd4h 0nxrCg