Detours: Love shack
London's packed Piccadilly Circus may seem to be an unlikely place for a museum dedicated to sex, love and relationships. But take a few steps through the frothy pink entrance of Amora and you're transported into a sensual subterranean chamber.
The first exhibit is a photographic display dedicated to some of nature's uncanny resemblances to human erotica. Heather Firth's images capture phallic rocks, cavernous gorges and silky fluids flowing through narrow crevasses. It's a thought-provoking introduction to a subject that can easily turn sleazy if tackled poorly.
The intelligent theme continues with displays devoted to pheromones, hormones and serotonin, showing the non-scientific among us why and how our bodies react in certain ways when it comes to physical attraction ... and non-attraction.
Less cerebral but just as intriguing is a touch-screen video that helps you pick your perfect partner. You can input your physical requirements (personality is given short shrift at Amora) from a dizzying selection of faces and bodies, and the computer assesses your decision. I mix and match furiously until I reach the profile of someone the computer warns me may be dominant and aggressive. Making a mental note to concentrate less on jawline in future I move on to the flirting display - ideal for when I next come across the cuddly type I've always shunned.
Although I'm not bad at flirting - even though I say so myself - it's always good to have a little guidance because it's one of the trickiest arts of social interaction. Here's a tip: if someone brushes their clothes when they're talking to you, it's a bad sign.
Next comes some information about how to make your love life successful, with displays devoted to the most effective aphrodisiacs and strategies.
After the initial tastefulness of the opening displays, things turn increasingly hardcore, with physiological videos and plaster-cast models of male and female genitalia. If all that makes you blush, just wait until you reach the fetish room.
There's little that's not explored (the museum is for over-18s) and although some of the material isn't for the squeamish, it might make you rethink your love life.
Interactive displays include a spankometer. I give the poor model (made of plaster) such a whack that I score the highest result possible on the pain meter. The accompanying spanking guide declares that agonising pain isn't the point of most fetish practices; rather, the emphasis is on enjoyment, etiquette and safety.
Amora, 13 Coventry St, London, Mon-Thu, 1pm-midnight; Fri-Sun, 11am-midnight GBP10 (HK$150)
