The Tractatus logico-phileroticus, conceived in 1998 by Werther Germondari, is an ongoing work to realize three artworks in the form of long feature films. Produced and directed together with Maria Laura Spagnoli, these works are intended to reflect on the relationship of the human species to its sexual drive. This is achieved through a (light) philosophical, ironic, grotesque and playful approach
, yet also a bit political. The vast majority of the episodes (from video art to fiction to short documentary) had or have their own life in art exhibitions and festivals before and after being included in the corresponding feature film. The first of the three feature films, titled Sex Equo, consists of nine episodes shot entirely in Super16 and 35mm. While the shooting of the first two episodes took place in 1998, they were completed in 2011. That same year, Sex Equo was presented as a world premiere at the XIII Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente in Buenos Aires, where a reviewer summarized:
"A series of short stories of fetish, eccentricity, porn and funny sexuality in the same remixed and exasperated tone of Italian picaresque comedies. There can be no possible linear storytelling in this lesson in sexual misconduct, as Germondari & Spagnoli's four eyes see much more than a single couple and feel much less guilt than many. Highly effective voyeurism is the basis here for an entire festive performance of sex, no matter how weird, vulgar or fancy it may be, seem or look. This new cinematic Kama Sutra features Adam and Eve in a paradise of endlessly tantalizing red apples, a pornographer focused on his Little Red Riding Hood, an androgynous shooter, playful bi-sexuality, inflatable multipurpose bodies, and other naughty fun elements of the flesh . And all in the context of Italian architecture, which, even if it seems touristy, pulls an appealing key at every door to explore other places of pleasure. You just have to know how to look and enjoy. “
In 2002, in parallel with the realization of the different episodes of Sex Equo, a video performance marks the beginning of the realization of the second film, Sex Novo. Compared to its predecessor, Sex Novo offers a deliberately drier and more minimalist style, achieved through the different aesthetic point of view, through the format of the entirely digital recording and through the choice of scenes and costumes. As a result, the features of surreal irony and grotesquerie already present in Sex Equo are noticeably more "edgy" in some episodes, especially as a result of the "stories" being told. It is important to note that the full titles of the two functions are Sex Equo ("Sex in the Foreground") and Sex Novo ("Sex in the Background"). These subtitles were inspired by two famous records made by Duke Ellington in the 1960s: "Piano in the Foreground" and "Piano in the Background". The design vision developed in both films metaphorically replaces the piano with sex. In Sex Equo, almost all of the stories use the desire to "sin" as a triggering element. Beginning with the connection theme, Adam and Eve, expelled from Eden, find themselves in a place full of "apples" and other fruit, from which the various "fantasies" shown in the episodes emerge. In contrast, Sex Novo contains episodes that focus mainly on fetish / BDSM practices, which are much more common in today's society than we think. In such practices, the sexual act is almost forbidden, non-existent or simply "in the background", so the protagonists' pleasure is mainly due to their mental approach to the "forbidden" aspect of the situation. The compilation of fourteen episodes of Sex Novo has been completed and will be presented and screened at festivals in 2021.
