Trash Moon documents the fictional formation of a second moon following a Kessler syndrome-like event—a cascading series of collisions by artificial space debris in the Earth’s orbit. As debris collides and sticks together, a small gravity well forms, allowing more and more refuse to consecrate and create the new titular celestial body. Trash Moon combines film, live-action miniature, stop-motion, and CGI to mimic the collage of refuse that combines to form this second moon. At the same time, the audio score employs spatialized audio and psychoacoustic elements to place the viewer inside an immersive counterpoint between the vastness of space and the frenetic, swirling collisions of debris. Together, generations of change compress to minutes, flattened to a screen that culminates in a dramatic double Solar Eclipse with Trash Moon, the Moon, and the Sun.

Directed and Conceived by Christopher Richmond

Music Composed by Brandon J. Rolle

Music Recording: Brandon J. Rolle, Diana Wade, Miller Wrenn

Cinematography and Editing: Christopher Richmond

Additional Cinematography: Boa Simon, NASA

Special thanks: Augusto Aguilera, Moskowitz Bayse, Emett Casey, Colin Trenbeath, Evan Walker

Generously Commissioned by the 2023 Hear Now Music Festival