In September 2021, artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg covered the National Mall in a blanket of white: one flag representing each life lost to COVID in the United States. Her goal was to both show the epic scale of COVID deaths in America, and to simultaneously express that behind each number was a real, living person. "not even for a moment do things stand still" provides an observational glimpse into this exhibit, dropping into intimate moments of people honoring their loved ones, and interrogating the role of mourning and closure during an unfolding tragedy.