Elmgreen & Dragset’s Self-Portrait, No. 11 references the artwork The Silence (Ingmar Bergman), made in 1973 by Joseph Beuys. Beuys is one of the most significant German artists, and Elmgreen & Dragset have been working in Berlin, Germany for the majority of their two-decade-long collaboration. Additionally, the artist duo has cited Swedish director Ingmar Bergman multiple times as a major influence, and have drawn inspiration from many of Bergman's films, such as Scenes from a Marriage, for example. The artists also referenced Bergman’s films Persona and Cries and Whispers and employed a quote from the director as the epigraph for the script they wrote to accompany their solo exhibition “Tomorrow” at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2013). Another interesting element of this work is the materials: the five film reels allude to the duo’s affinity for staging domestic environments reminiscent of film sets and crafting theatrical narratives. Last but not least, the title The Silence lends a contemplative, yet not strictly defined, tone to the work, which remains present whether Self-Portrait, No. 11 is displayed alone or alongside other works in the Self-Portraits series.