Débora Delmar mines the iconography and commodities of health-driven lifestyles to address themes of class and upward mobility. Dedicated to the health food trend of “green juice,” her operational juice bar takes its name both from the minting of currency and MINT, the acronym for the developing economic powers of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey as emerging markets for investment—countries that often export the fruit that then becomes a much more expensive liquified juice product sold in boutique packaging. Delmar’s juice has been produced in cooperation with a local company.
Visitors can relax in Delmar’s juice bar on upcycled eco furniture, surrounded by celebrity green juice paparazzi photos, and a sculptural installation of matcha and wheat-grass infused plaster figures, cast lettuce, and watermelon totem poles. Commenting on the displacement of value, food as a luxury item, and the marketing and economic structures that underlie trends and health products, the project takes on the perennial “greenwashing” of commodities and how social consciousness is reinforced by consumer habits.