LONDON – Banksy‘s newest video suggests the shredding of the “Girl with Balloon” piece at a Sotheby’s auction earlier this month didn’t exactly go to plan.

The video, “Shredding the Girl and Balloon – director’s cut,” begins with behind-the-scenes footage the ever-mysterious artist working on the piece. The viewer sees a couple of shots of the shredding machine, and footage of the artist securing the shredder inside an ornate frame.

It gives the viewer a sense of how the now-viral shredding happened. The video suggests the artist had successfully shredded the entire piece previously.

The video also shows first-person footage from the auction and shows the moment a button was pushed to start the shredding. It’s unclear if Banksy was at the auction or if another person went in his place.

The video appears to debunk speculation that the act was a stunt to increase the painting’s value. At the auction, the shredding stopped just above the girl’s head, leaving the balloon in tact.

Banksy refuted these rumors, showing previous successful shredding attempts.

Banksy also said Sotheby’s was not in on the stunt.

In an Instagram post on Oct. 17, he said, “Some people think it didn’t really shred. It did. Some people think the auction house were in on it, they weren’t.” In a previous post, he quoted Pablo Picasso: “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”

He has renamed the piece “Love is in the Bin.” The unidentified European bidder has agreed to continue with the purchase.

What do you think of the viral shredding? A publicity stunt or an artists expression?