As construction continues at the World Trade Center site, a painter on the 66th floor is trying to capture it all through his art. Our Michael Scotto has the story.
On a top floor of Four World Trade Center, artist and filmmaker Marcus Robinson only needs to look out one of his many windows for inspiration.
For a decade, he has been capturing the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, first on camera for a documentary film, and later on paper and wood for a series of paintings and drawings he started on in 2008.
Born in Northern Ireland, Robinson was living in London at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
"When the events happened here I felt I had a calling to come here and make a film about the rebuilding," Robinson said.
That film shows the progress of the 16-acre site, from a massive scar gutted by destruction, to buildings soaring high into the sky.
His paintings and drawings, created on pieces of discarded wood from the site, show the faces of the construction workers who have rebuilt Lower Manhattan under incredibly tough conditions.
"I want to capture something that will be a timeless celebration of the spirit of the men and women who have been rebuilding the skyline of New York," Robinson said.
Over the last eight years, Robinson has been quite prolific, creating hundreds of drawings and between 50 and 60 paintings.
Robinson started his work in Tower 7 before moving to a 30,000 square foot space in Tower 4, both provided rent-free by the site's developer, Larry Silverstein.
While he now works to capture the construction of the remaining buildings, he is also trying to draw the past, recreating by memory the conditions from years ago.
Some of his works have sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
When done, some of his art, he says, will be permanently featured at the site.
"It's impossible really to capture it all," Robinson said. "It's just so beautiful. The only thing you can do is be in the present and appreciate it. It's ever changing."
Ever-changing moments that are now frozen in time.