Fish Tail

Description:

Developed during a three-month residency at the Matapédia train station in Quebec and the Acadian region of southeastern New Brunswick, Fish Tail is a thirty-minute one-woman show and installation by Marie Ségolène Brault. Inspired by a 1989 New York Times article recounting a fishing expedition on the Matapédia River—detailing water temperatures, shifting currents, and the challenges of catching salmon on the fly—Fish Tail is structured around Brault reading three unsent letters addressed to a compulsive fisherman, the Montréal bar Le Plongeoir and its bartender, and the Matapédia River. 

At Western Front, Brault’s epistolary narrative unfolded on a set composed of antique furniture, vintage fishing books, pheasant feathers, martini glasses, liquor bottles, a record player, fishing tackle, a dead fish, and other objects found at Western Front, creating an unsettling environment rich in symbology. 

Presenting English translations of her original French texts, Brault’s letters were enriched by conversations with Matapédia locals, personal memories, and quotations from literature and film. Her rhizomatic narrative unfolded through confessional poetic fragments exploring desire, time, seduction, and longing, interwoven with traditional Acadian drinking songs and choreography inspired by fly fishing techniques. 

Following the performance, Brault hosted a martini bar in the Luxe vestibule using spirits she infused with local ingredients. The installation extended into this space and featured the original Fish Tail movement score transposed into Baroque dance notation. Just beyond the bar, Brault presented four posters that paired images with text around the theme of “the fly” and its associations in fishing and makeup.